The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday temporarily blocked San Diego Unified‘s student COVID-19 vaccination mandate from going into effect — one day before the school district’s deadline for students to get their first dose.
The court sided with a 16-year-old junior at Scripps Ranch High School who had sued last month, saying San Diego Unified’s vaccination mandate violated her religious beliefs.
The San Diego Unified school board voted in late September to require that staff and students 16 and older be fully vaccinated against COVID by Dec. 20, meaning they had to have their first dose by Monday, in order to continue to attend school in person. Those who don’t comply would have to attend school remotely.
The student, identified as Jill Doe in the complaint, said her Christian beliefs prevent her from taking the COVID vaccine because the vaccines were tested using historical stem cell lines derived from abortions during the 1970s and 80s.
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