A New Mexico officer is suing officials who issued a COVID-19 vaccine requirement that he claims violates federal law.
Detention officer Isaac Legarreta of the Dona Ana County Detention Center wrote in a federal complaint against county manager Fernando Macias and other detention center officials that he was written up at work and threatened with termination if he didn't comply with Macias's memo mandating that employees get vaccinated, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Legarreta, who is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction from further enforcement action, maintained that the directive violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
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Macias wrote to employees in January, saying that save for an accommodation, “being vaccinated is a requirement and a condition of ongoing employment with the County due to the significant health and safety risks posed by contracting or spreading COVID-19.”
While the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines have all been granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, none has fully been approved, a fact that Legareta says renders Macias's directive incompatible with federal law.
Due to the close quarters of many prison populations, several states have begun inoculating prison guards and inmates in an attempt to prevent community spread. Seven states have designated inmates as top priority vaccine recipients so far.
Last month, President Biden's decision to vaccinate detainees at Guantanamo Bay was paused amid backlash from high-profile Republicans such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, who noted that most U.S. citizens had not gotten vaccinated yet.
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Representatives for the Dona Ana County Detention Center and Macias did not immediately reply to the Washington Examiner's requests for comment.
