Vaccine litigation

Neri et al. v. The Queen. For those following the vaccine litigation in the U.S., unsurprisingly, the Canadian military is facing similar issues.

​The Applicants are members of the Canadian Armed Forces [CAF] who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 for varied reasons. They are opposed to a vaccine mandate. None of the Applicants has received an exemption or accommodation. They are concerned that as a result of their stance, they will receive a dishonourable release from the CAF. The Applicants therefore seek a “temporary prohibitive injunction” regarding the enforcement of any directive from the (now) Chief of Defence Staff, General W. Eyre [CDS] regarding a vaccine mandate, pending the outcome of their applications for judicial review challenging the directives [JR Applications]. . . .

For all the foregoing reasons, I dismiss the Applicants’ motions for a temporary or interlocutory injunction to restrain the enforcement of any directive regarding a vaccine mandate, pending the outcome of their JR Applications.

U.S. military personnel have also gone to court on the mandate. See, e.g., 

More than a dozen unidentified U.S. service members have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Defense Department's COVID-19 vaccine order, saying they have natural immunity from contracting the illness, are pregnant or trying to have a baby and don't want the vaccines.

The lawsuit -- the second filed by U.S. military personnel against DoD leadership and the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration -- seeks exemptions from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's Aug. 25 mandate requiring the vaccine, as well as a temporary restraining order to stop the ongoing immunizations.

Patricia Kime and Rebecca Kheel, 16 Service Members Sue to Halt DoD's Vaccine Order. Military.com, Oct. 19, 2021; Carol Shomaker, New River Marine, N.C. Marine Officer plaintiffs in military vaccine mandate lawsuits. The Daily News, Nov. 26, 2021.

Interestingly, a number of State governors are ordering their National Guard to ignore the National Guard Bureau directives on the military vaccine mandate or are suing in federal court. See, e.g., 

A federal judge in Oklahoma on Tuesday ruled against the state in its lawsuit challenging the vaccine mandates for members of the Oklahoma National Guard in a dispute that is the first critical test of the military's authority to require National Guard troops to get the shot.

Sean Murphy, Judge Rejects Oklahoma's Lawsuit over Guard Vaccine Mandate. Military.com, Dec. 29, 2021: Federal court denies Oklahoma's attempt to block Pentagon vaccine mandate. Axios, Dec. 29, 2021.