A New York Supreme Court judge struck down a mandate Friday that required all health care workers in the state to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Judge Gerard Neri ruled that Gov. Hochul and the health department had abused their authority by sidestepping the legislature and making the Covid vaccine mandate for medical staff permanent, Syracuse reported.
Neri argued that the state cannot require vaccines beyond those specified in public health law.
He ruled that the state’s requirement that all healthcare workers get vaccinated against COVID-19 was “null, void, and of no effect.”
“The Mandate is beyond the scope of Respondents’ authority and is therefore “null, void, and of no effect,” he wrote in his ruling.
“A term which is defined at the whim of an entity, subject to change without a moment’s notice contains all the hallmarks of ‘absurdity’ and is no definition at all,” he said.
Epoch Times reported:
Neri also found that the mandate was “arbitrary and capricious,” citing evidence that COVID-19 vaccines don’t prevent the spread of the virus, undercutting the basis for the mandate.
“In true Orwellian fashion, the Respondents acknowledge then-current COVID-19 shots do not prevent transmission,” Neri wrote, citing a Summary of Assessment of Public Comment that was entered as evidence in the case.
In support of the view that the mandate was capricious, Neri also pointed to the fact that the order, titled Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission by Covered Entities (pdf), used a loose definition for “fully vaccinated,” namely one that was “determined by the Department.”
The ruling came after a lawsuit was filed by Medical Professionals for Informed Consent, a group of medical professionals who were negatively affected by the vaccine mandate and either lost their jobs or faced the prospect of job loss.
“This is a huge win for New York healthcare workers, who have been deprived of their livelihoods for more than a year,” the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Sujata Gibson, said in a statement.
“This is also a huge win for all New Yorkers, who are facing dangerous and unprecedented healthcare worker shortages throughout New York State.”
