The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring that government-imposed Covid-19 vaccine mandates include religious exemptions, turning away an appeal by a group of Maine health-care workers.
The justices left intact a federal appeals court decision letting Maine fully enforce its shot requirement for workers in licensed health-care facilities. Maine is one of three states, along with New York and Rhode Island, that require vaccination of health-care workers and allow exemptions only for medical reasons.
Although the Supreme Court has limited the federal government’s power to require Covid shots or tests, the justices have allowed state and local mandates, even without religious exemptions. The court left in force New York’s requirement in December.
The Supreme Court had already rejected the Maine challengers in October, when over three dissents the justices refused to intervene on an emergency basis.
Read more at Bloomberg News.