JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden's decisive steps regarding the COVID-19 vaccination program have received a different response in Arizona, regarding vaccine obligations for federal, health and private workers. Meanwhile, a similar mandate in New York is also met with opposition.
President Joe Biden last Thursday took aim at vaccine resistance in the United States, announcing a policy requiring most federal employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine and encouraging major employers to have their workers vaccinated or tested weekly.
The policy is likely to face legal challenges, and is soon belittled by opposition Republicans. It could be months before the impact of the mandate is felt.
In Arizona, Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against a federal requirement for businesses to require a COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing at companies with 100 or more employees.
"This is a violation of individual liberties," Brnovich said Tuesday by telephone with reporters, adding that the law leaves such health decisions up to the states, citing USA Today September 14.
Brnovich's office filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, seeking a ruling declaring the new federal policy unconstitutional.
The Arizona Attorney General's Office said the lawsuit was the first of its kind filed in the US, though more action is expected across the country.
Under Biden's plan, the requirement for employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing applies to employers with 100 workers or more. Employers who do not comply can face a fine of $14,000 per violation
"This lawsuit is about the power of the federal government," said Brnovich, who is running for the Republican nomination for next year's US Senate election.
Brnovich said although federal rules had not yet been written, the lawsuit was valid because it sought to argue that the federal government did not have the authority to make such rules.
Separately, a judge in New York temporarily blocked the state from enforcing the requirement that healthcare workers receive the COVID-19 vaccine against the wishes of employees with religious objections.
US District Judge David Hurd in Utica, New York said in a written order he blocked the mandate from taking effect on September 27 because it did not allow exceptions based on workers' religious beliefs Tuesday.
The order comes in a lawsuit filed Monday by 17 doctors, nurses and other health professionals who say New York's requirements violate their constitutional rights in multiple ways.
The plaintiffs are all Christians who said they objected to receiving the vaccine because aborted fetal cell lines were used in their testing and development.
Hurd gave the state until Sept. 22 to respond to the lawsuit, and said he would hold a Sept. 28 hearing on whether to block the vaccine requirement from taking effect pending the outcome of the case.
The mandate was issued last month by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who at the time said about 75 percent of the state's roughly 450,000 hospital workers had been fully vaccinated.
The New York Attorney General's Office, which represents the state, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did the plaintiff's attorney.
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