Governor Kathy Hochul: Religious exemption for vaccine won’t be upheld in court

Albany, New York — Governor Kathy Hochul’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers starts on Monday.

Thousands across New York who chose not to get the shot lost their jobs but the majority are vaccinated.

After two judges issued separate holds temporarily blocking the state from enforcing the mandate on those with religious exemptions, unvaccinated healthcare workers who claim a religious exemption are still in the clear.

One of the holds will expire on October 12th while the other on the 14th.

On Saturday, Hochul suggested that the courts will rule in her favor.

“Now you’ll see by the end of the week, it’ll be 100-percent [of healthcare workers vaccinated]. We’re about 92-94 right now. We’re watching that close, so people are realizing that we’re coming up on a deadline, especially those who thought they were going to get a religious exemption. I do not believe it’ll be upheld in court,” said Hochul.

According to Cassandra Kazukenus, Senior Attorney with Martin, Harding & Mazzotti, LLP, while she isn’t certain what’s behind the governor’s statement, she believes this case is similar to the ruling made during a measles outbreak in 2019 where the decision to end religious exemptions from vaccinations among school children was upheld.

“In that case, the court upheld that the removal of the religious exemption was not unconstitutional. Mostly, it passed a rational basis test,” said Kazukenus.

“So they thought it was rational to use that method in order to ensure that school-aged children are vaccinated against a disease that spread in schools,” said Kazukenus. “Because kids spread germs, we all know that.”