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New Mexico vaccine lawsuit, New Mexico covid
(Photo Credit: meunierd/Shutterstock)

New Mexico Vaccine Lawsuit Overview:

  • Who: Two plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against the state of New Mexico over public health order mandating all health and education workers be vaccinated for COVID-19.
  • Why: The plaintiffs argue the public health order violated their right to refuse a vaccine not fully approved by the FDA, which has approved the Pfizer vaccine since the filing of the lawsuit.
  • Where: The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New Mexico.

A public health order requiring health and education workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine has landed the governor of New Mexico with a class action lawsuit. 

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an order Aug. 18 requiring that healthcare workers, professions like teachers or school staff and anyone attending the upcoming New Mexico State Fair be vaccinated, unless they qualify for an exemption, NM Political Report reported.

Only a day later, registered nurse Jennifer Blackford and another woman filed a class action lawsuit against the state, saying the order violated their right to refuse a vaccine not fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The vaccine manufactured by pharmaceutical company Pfizer has since been approved by the FDA.

“It is my right to choose not to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and it violates my right to bodily integrity under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution to require that in order to keep my job I must inject an experimental [Emergency Use Authorization] vaccine into my body,” Blackford reportedly said in the court filing.

Blackford’s employer, Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, is reportedly also requiring that all its staff be vaccinated.  

The other plaintiff is Talisha Valdez, a woman who wanted to show livestock in a competition at the state fair, but who didn’t want to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It is my right to choose not to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and it is my right as a parent to refuse to have my child injected with an experimental [Emergency Use Authorization] vaccine,” Valdez said.

A spokesperson for Lujan Grisham’s office issued a statement saying, “the state’s ability to protect the health and safety of the public by implementing public health policies has been upheld again and again by the courts.”

Earlier this month, an unvaccinated law professor in Virginia sued the university where he works for creating a policy that he says pushes employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine, or else face discipline or termination.

Do you think healthcare workers and educators should be allowed to be unvaccinated at work? Let us know in the comments! 


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One thought on New Mexico Governor Sued Over COVID-19 Vaccine Order

  1. Mr/Wayne Jenkins says:

    Add me to

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