New York state is getting pushed back on its COVID vaccine mandates.
A federal judge in Utica is temporarily blocking the state from forcing medical workers to be vaccinated if they claim religious exemption.
U.S. District Judge David Hurd in Utica issued the temporary order Tuesday afternoon.
The order is a big but temporary win for a group of 17 healthcare professionals who filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming that the mandate, which disallows religious exemptions, violates their constitutional rights.
The lawsuit is against Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, and New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker.
The state vaccine mandate was issued on August 26 and required healthcare and nursing home workers to have received the first dose of the vaccine by September 27.
In the state's mandate, the NYSDOH stated that entities will no longer be permitted to provide religious exemptions.
The judge gave New York until September 22nd to respond to the lawsuit in federal court in Utica.
If the state opposes the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary court order blocking the vaccine mandate, a hearing will commence on September 28th.
Hazel Crampton-Hays, Press Secretary to Governor Kathy Hochul, said in a statement, “Governor Hochul is doing everything in her power to protect New Yorkers and combat the Delta variant by increasing vaccine rates across the State. Requiring vaccination of healthcare workers is critical to this battle. This order does not suspend the vaccine mandate, but it temporarily bars the Department of Health from enforcing the mandate where individuals have claims for religious exemption. We are considering all of our legal options to keep our communities safe.”
Ray Agnew, Glens Falls Hospital Vice President of Hospital and Community Engagement, says that discussions are now underway as to how to proceed.
"The judge's order will certainly cause all of us to take a step back and look at what happens next. That order just came out. Certainly, I will be speaking with my colleagues here and we’ll be talking about what comes next to that as well as all of our colleagues in the Albany Med system and in fact colleagues all around the region," said Agnew.