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NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vaccine mandate is being challenged in the courts.
A judge on the state’s Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether to halt the mandate for municipal workers.
De Blasio’s mandate, which was issued on October 29th, impacts approximately 160,000 public-sector employees, which includes police, firefighters and sanitation workers.
A detective from the New York City Police Department named Anthony Marciano sued Mayor Bill de Blasio on Dec. 1 in state court in Manhattan.
Detective Marciano has requested a temporary restraining order against the Covid vaccine requirement.
Marciano argues the Covid-19 vaccines have been authorized only for emergency use and are “unapproved, investigational and experimental.”
The mandate violates his rights to informed consent, he argued.
State Supreme Court Justice Frank P. Nervo scheduled a hearing for Dec 14th to consider whether to block New York City from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public-sector workers.
De Blasio, on the hand, claims, “Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic.”
Recently a federal appeals court put a nationwide hold on Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for companies with at least 100 workers.
More from Reuters:
In an order on Tuesday, Justice Frank Nervo of the New York state court in Manhattan said he will consider whether to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) at the Dec. 14 hearing.
Nervo has not ruled on the mandate’s merits. He issued an order on Wednesday clarifying that he had not “issued a stay,” following incorrect media reports that he had issued a TRO. The city says the mandate remains in force.
Mayor Bill de Blasio had on Oct. 20 announced the vaccine mandate for New York City’s approximately 160,000 public-sector employees, a group that includes police, firefighters and sanitation workers.
Vaccinations had been mandated in September for city teachers and healthcare workers, and most have been vaccinated.
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About 94% of the city’s 378,000 employees are vaccinated, up from 86% in late October, de Blasio’s office said on Monday.
The mayor on Monday said New York City would also require private-sector workers to be vaccinated by Dec. 27, a first-in-the-nation mandate affecting about 184,000 businesses.
