Court blocks COVID-19 vaccine mandate for California prisons

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked an order that all California prison workers must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or have a religious or medical exemption. The court on Friday granted a stay of a lower court's September mandate. The earlier requirement was supposed to take effect by Jan. 12 but the appeals court stays enforcement until at least March. According to state figures, more than 50,000 state prisoners — more than half of California’s state inmate population — have had COVID-19, and at least 242 have died from the disease.