A federal appeals court has revived a legal challenge to the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Oct. 22 sent the challenge back to a district court judge who had thrown out the case.
The case challenges the military’s 2021 requirement that members and civilian employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine, unless they were approved for an exemption on medical or religious grounds.
Amy Arzamendi, Michael Orloff, and Brooke Stadler, Christian civilian workers for the Department of War, sued in 2023 over the mandate after officials did not decide on their requests for a religious exemption and they were forced to comply with protocols for unvaccinated employees, including testing requirements….