Lawsuit challenges New Mexico’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A newly filed lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of recent public health orders requiring people with certain jobs to get COVID-19 vaccinations and restricting admittance to the state fair. The lawsuit filed last week in federal court asks a judge to block enforcement of an order requiring health workers, teachers and certain other workers to get vaccinated. A spokeswoman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says state actions to protect the public’s health and safety have been repeatedly upheld by courts. Many employers also are requiring vaccinations, with Los Alamos National Laboratory among the latest to do so.