WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has refused to halt a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers in New York that does not offer an exemption for religious reasons. The court acted Monday on emergency appeals filed by doctors, nurses and other medical workers who say they are being forced to choose between their jobs and religious beliefs. Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. New York is one of just three states, along with Maine and Rhode Island, that do not accommodate health care workers who object to the vaccine on religious grounds.
Photo: FILE – Sandra Lindsay, left, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, is inoculated with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by Dr. Michelle Chester, in the Queens borough of New York, on Dec. 14, 2020. The nation’s COVID-19 death toll stands at around 800,000 as the anniversary of the U.S. vaccine rollout arrives. A year ago it stood at 300,000. What might have been a time to celebrate a scientific achievement is fraught with discord and mourning. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, Pool, File)
