Today is the deadline for Rhode Island healthcare workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs.
A federal judge on Thursday blocked a request from the state's healthcare workforce to block the vaccine mandate issued by Governor Dan McKee's administration because it does not allow for religious exemptions.
The mandate does grant exemptions for medical reasons.
The Rhode Island hospitals have all made contingency plans to deal with health care workers that will not be working because they are not in compliance with the mandate.
The Judge ruled Thursday that courts have held for over a century that mandatory vaccination laws are constitutional.
(Photo by Dan Peled/Getty Images)