New York vaccine mandate lawsuits gain momentum as Bhattacharya and Makary confirmed to lead NIH and FDA
By lauraharris // 2025-04-07
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  • Plaintiffs in lawsuits against NYC's COVID-19 vaccine mandates for municipal workers hope the Senate confirmations of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (NIH director) and Dr. Marty Makary (FDA commissioner) will strengthen their legal cases.
  • The cases (Kane v. de Blasio and NYFRL v. City of New York) involve thousands of terminated or displaced workers (teachers, first responders, etc.) who refused the vaccine, arguing the city violated their First Amendment rights by denying religious exemptions.
  • Bhattacharya and Makary asserted in court that unvaccinated individuals posed no public health threat, natural immunity was robust, and mandates ignoring it were scientifically flawed. Plaintiffs now hope these arguments will carry weight under their leadership.
  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s appointment as HHS Secretary adds further optimism. He opposes vaccine mandates and promises transparency, aligning with the plaintiffs’ stance against 2021-era policies.
  • With these appointments, plaintiffs believe their challenges, potentially headed to the Supreme Court, could gain traction, as dissenting scientific views once sidelined now shape federal health policy.
Plaintiffs in two high-profile lawsuits challenging New York City's Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandates for municipal workers are hopeful that the Senate confirmations of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Marty Makary to lead top U.S. health agencies will bolster their legal battles. On March 25, the Senate confirmed Bhattacharya as the new director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Makary as the new commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Both doctors submitted affidavits in federal court in Kane v. de Blasio and New Yorkers for Religious Liberty (NYFRL) v. City of New York on Oct. 4, 2021. The two lawsuits represent thousands of city employees, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, sanitation workers and medical professionals, who were terminated or displaced for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. Kane v. de Blasio focuses on educators, while NYFRL v. City of New York covers all municipal workers who were denied religious exemptions. Both cases argue that the city's refusal to accommodate religious objections violated the First Amendment. The lawsuits are at different stages in the federal appeals process and could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. At that time, Bhattacharya and Makary asserted that unvaccinated individuals do not pose a public health threat, natural immunity from prior COVID-19 infection is robust and may be superior to vaccine-induced immunity and mandates ignoring natural immunity are scientifically unsound. (Related: COVID vaccine mandates are not doing anything to help the pandemic, says Dr. Richard Urso – Brighteon.com.) Sujata Gibson, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, recalled how Bhattacharya and Makary stepped in to assist. "When I cold-called Dr. Makary and Dr. Bhattacharya on a weekend, they didn't hesitate, they dropped everything to help us, pro bono, on an emergency motion. Their generosity was a game-changer for our fight." With both doctors now leading major federal health agencies, plaintiffs believe their legal arguments, rooted in the same scientific principles, could gain traction in court. "Children's Health Defense (CHD) was the first organization in the nation to stand with fired New York City workers using unbiased science from Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr. Makary," said Mary Holland, CEO of CHD. "We have every reason to expect that these scientists will rely on the same unbiased science as they will now lead NIH and FDA."

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could be another "hope" for lawsuits against COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Aside from the Senate confirmations of Bhattacharya and Makary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., founder and former chairman of CHD, was also appointed to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kennedy, a longtime critic of vaccine mandates and government overreach in public health, has vowed to restore scientific transparency and medical freedom. His leadership marks a stark departure from the 2021 era when dissenting voices, including those of Bhattacharya and Makary, were sidelined or censored for questioning mainstream COVID-19 policies. Now, their once-suppressed perspectives are being elevated to the highest levels of federal health policy. In other words, the plaintiffs have another reason to be hopeful in their lawsuits against COVID-19 vaccine mandates that affected their personal lives a few years back. Follow Pandemic.news for more stories like this. Watch the video below of Harrison Smith explaining the impact of vaccine mandates on the food supply.
This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

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Sources include: TheDefender.org USNews.com Brighteon.com
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