Judge denies NYPD union's bid to halt COVID vaccine mandate
CBSN
A Staten Island judge denied a police union's request to temporarily halt the implementation of the city's vaccine mandate that is set to take effect November 1.
The Police Benevolent Association, New York City's largest police union, had argued in their request for a temporary restraining order on Monday that the policy does not make clear potential exceptions for medical or religious reasons, and does not give unvaccinated officers sufficient time to apply for such exemptions, as those appeals must have been submitted by Wednesday — one week after the mandate was announced.
Additionally, they noted that the department's "Vax or Test" program has been effective in ensuring public health while simultaneously providing privacy to individual medical decisions.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.