A group of health care workers in Cincinnati, Ohio filed a class-action lawsuit against local hospitals in recent days over the region’s vaccine mandates, saying the requirement violates their right to “protect their bodily integrity.”
The legal action applies to facilities in Cincinnati and surrounding suburbs in Northern Kentucky.
“More than 27 employees so far from St. Elizabeth Healthcare agreed to be plaintiffs with over 100 at each health care system agreeing to join the legal fight against UC Health, Cincinnati Children’s, Christ, TriHealth, Mercy and St. Elizabeth,” reports Fox Cincinnati. “The employees are front-line nurses, nursing supervisors, floor managers, health care technicians and even security guards.”
“When there was no vaccine, the workers had to go to work. They were heroes. Now that there is a vaccine, they have to get the vaccine or be fired. They are ‘zeroes,’” reads the lawsuit.
According to court documents, the suit wants a “declaratory judgment” that the mandate violates the law, a temporary injunction against the requirement, a jury trial, and other relief deemed necessary.
The suit comes as recent studies show those previously infected with COVID have greater immunity than those who received the vaccine.
“The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study that some scientists wish came with a ‘Don’t try this at home’ label. The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than vaccinated people to get Delta, develop symptoms from it, or become hospitalized with serious COVID-19,” claims the report.
“The study demonstrates the power of the human immune system, but infectious disease experts emphasized that this vaccine and others for COVID-19 nonetheless remain highly protective against severe disease and death. And they caution that intentional infection among unvaccinated people would be extremely risky,” adds the study.
Read the full report here.
