A requirement for New York City school teachers and staff to get vaccinated for COVID-19 was temporarily blocked by a US appeals court just days before it was to take effect, but the court on Saturday set a hearing on the matter for next week.
Mayor Bill de Blasio last month set Monday as the deadline for 148,000 staff members of the largest US school system to get at least one dose of a vaccine under a mandate aimed at slowing the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
But the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit late on Friday blocked the deadline by granting a temporary injunction to a small group of public school teachers and paraprofessionals who are challenging the mandate, which does not allow for weekly testing as an alternative.
The court on Saturday scheduled a hearing on the dispute for Wednesday, following a request by the city for an expedited hearing.
Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington state also have introduced vaccine mandates for teachers and school staff as U.S. educators and parents grapple with how to keep schools safe and open as the country battles the latest COVID-19 surge.
