A US Supreme Court justice has rejected a request by health workers in Maine to block a statewide vaccine mandate, while their wider legal challenge against the measure proceeds.
All healthcare workers in the state will have to be fully vaccinated under the mandate, which comes into force on Oct 29.
Several unnamed health workers and one health provider insist the decree violates their constitutional right to freedom of religion, citing conscientious objections to the vaccine.
Justice Stephen Breyer — who responds to emergency applications from Maine — denied their petition for a preliminary injunction, which had already been rejected by a district court.
