ORONO, Maine (AP) A federal appeals court has denied an emergency request to stop a COVID-19 vaccine mandate from going into effect in Maine.
The rule, announced by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, requires health care workers to get vaccinated against the disease by Oct. 29 or risk losing jobs. Opponents of the mandate challenged it in federal court and a judge declined to block it earlier this week.
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston issued a one-sentence statement on Friday that said the request for an emergency halt to the mandate was denied, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Health workers in the state needed to get their final shot by Friday to come into compliance with the mandate in time.
Most already have. State officials said earlier this week that the compliance rate at hospitals in the state was more than 90%, and it was more than 80% in some other types of health care facilities such as intermediate care facilities.
