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Children’s Health Defense (CHD) has reached out to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) on behalf of the public sector workers in the U.S. who were forced out of their jobs because they refused to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“We appreciate your bravery in speaking out against government-sponsored censorship, legal indemnity for vaccine manufacturers, and COVID shot mandates,” CHD said in a July 23 letter to Moreno.
CHD cited Moreno’s criticism, during a July 15 U.S. Senate hearing on vaccine injuries, of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate that trapped Americans who “(couldn’t) go to work and make a living” if they didn’t get the shots.
“The north star has got to be medical freedom,” he said.
Also at that hearing, Moreno addressed the need to hold the vaccine industry legally accountable for injuries caused by their products. “The government has decided that this particular industry gets a free pass,” he said.
Sen. Moreno on blanket immunity for vaccine manufacturers:
“What’s interesting about this industry … the government has decided … that this particular industry gets a free pass … that this particular industry doesn’t have to be liable to anybody.” pic.twitter.com/WkIeRt6bGF
— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) July 18, 2025
CHD helped organize the “Voices of the Vaccine Injured” hearing, led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
In its letter, CHD asked Moreno to consider three requests to draw attention to the damage inflicted on workers who didn’t comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate:
- Work with your Senate colleagues to convene hearings about fired unvaccinated public sector workers and the need to right these wrongs. As you said in the hearing on July 15, “I’m all for going forward, but there has to be a humility of looking backwards over the period of time in COVID and realize that our government did real damage to real people.” We are here to help you in any way we can.
- Carry a Senate bill that might help to rectify the damage inflicted upon fired workers during COVID across the nation.
- Reach out to the Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) to draw attention to the tens of thousands of religious exemptions to vaccination that were illegally denied through bogus religious exemption evaluation programs around the country during COVID.
CHD has backed several lawsuits for public sector employees, including New York City workers, who were fired for refusing the COVID-19 shot.
Across the U.S., many of these displaced workers still have not been reinstated or compensated.
On July 21, a group of 19 teachers who sued the city of New York after they were denied religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review lower court rulings, which they allege unconstitutionally favored some religious beliefs over others.
On June 16, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a petition by seven Maine healthcare workers who were denied religious exemptions for vaccination in 2021 and fired for not complying with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
In December 2024, the California Supreme Court ruled that a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of University of California (UC) employees could move forward. That claim states the COVID-19 vaccine mandate violated employees’ rights to privacy and bodily autonomy — including their rights to make an informed decision to decline the shot.
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In November 2024, a federal court ruled against most New York City employees who sued the city after it denied their COVID-19 vaccine religious exemption requests.
In January 2023, New York City public-sector workers who lost their jobs for refusing to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate filed a $250 million lawsuit against the city and Mayor Eric Adams seeking to end the mandate.
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- ‘This is Not Right’: A California Woman’s Journey From Administering COVID Vaccines to Fighting for the Vaccine-Injured
- ‘This Is Going to Be a Slog’: Senate Hearing on Cover-Up of COVID Vaccine Risks Just the ‘Tip of the Iceberg,’ Johnson Tells Committee
- 30 Lawmakers Sponsor Bill to End Liability Protection for Vaccine Makers
