Authorities revealed that despite the massive opposition and calls to ban vaccine mandates in the United States, the requirement has significantly boosted inoculation rates in the region as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the livelihood of residents.
Officials released new data that showed 92% of hospital staff members and nursing home staff have been given at least their first coronavirus vaccine shots prior to the deadline of the mandate. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul put out the report that showed on Aug. 24, only 71% of hospital workers were partially vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Vaccine Mandate Effectiveness
In a press release, Hochul praised the decision of her predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo related to the vaccine mandate that was implemented in late July to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection. She added that the recently released data showed having a vaccine mandate on healthcare workers was the "right thing to do."
Other states are also seeing a massive increase in compliance with the vaccine mandates despite growing opposition to the requirement. The vast majority of healthcare workers are getting themselves vaccinated despite the continued resistance nationwide, Yahoo News reported.
Amid the opposition, on Friday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied a request from a group of New York City teachers to ban the region's vaccine mandate for public school employees. The judge did not refer the case to her colleagues in the Supreme Court or justified her decision. This suggested that the other justices agreed with her decision. Similarly in August, Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected a request to ban the vaccine mandate in Indiana University.
Court papers showed that lawyers for the teachers who requested the ban on the mandate argued that New York City, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, have implemented a requirement that placed an "unconstitutional burden" on public school teachers.
They expressed their wishes that the high court of the region block the mandate while the appeals process played out. New York City officials issued an order in August that mandated Department of Education staff who were working in in-person environments, in a school setting, or in a building to submit proof of at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, CNN reported.
Request to Ban Requirement
The roughly 150,000 school employees within New York City had a deadline of Friday at 5:00 p.m. to show proof of vaccination against the coronavirus or acquire a religious or medical exemption. If they are unable to do either of these options, the city is authorized to remove them from the payrolls due to the vaccine mandate.
Before pitching their request to the Supreme Court, the group of educators challenged the requirement in lower courts and failed to win their case. The situation comes as federal agencies are able to begin enforcing United States President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates on federal employees on Nov. 9. Employees who continue to defy the orders would be suspended before potentially being kicked off of the workforce, as announced by a memo from the Office of Personnel Management, The Washington Post reported.
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