To slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York did something remarkable; it issued emergency regulations requiring public and private hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, and other “covered entities” to enforce a vaccine mandate for their employees, regardless of the employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs.
The regulations, which apply to nearly all health care workers in New York, do not provide a religious exemption, unlike other recently-issued COVID-19 vaccine mandates. See, e.g., Safer Federal Workforce Task Force COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors and Guidance for Customers and Employees on Equitable Implementation of Key to NYC.
