Student sues over vaccine mandates

A 19-year-old student who says he is immune from COVID-19 because he already had it is suing the University of Nevada, Reno, the governor and others over the state’s requirement that everyone, with few exceptions, show proof of vaccination to register for classes in the upcoming spring semester.

Jonah Gold alleges there is no solid evidence that people who recover from COVID-19 ever lose their immunity.

His lawsuit said that any benefit of vaccination is outweighed by the threat of harmful side effects and that “COVID-19 vaccination mandates are an unconstitutional intrusion on normal immunity and bodily integrity.”

The lawsuit was filed Nov. 9 in U.S District Court in Reno by lawyers including Joey Gilbert, an ex-boxer turned conservative activist who is aligned with former President Donald Trump and running for Nevada’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial nomination.

The state’s Division of Public and Behavioral Health adopted an emergency regulation in August requiring enrollees in any Nevada university, community college or state college beginning Nov. 1, 2021, to provide proof of a completed COVID-19 vaccination.

Gold, who lives in a campus dormitory and refuses to take a COVID-19 test, already has paid for room and board for the spring semester. But he has been unable to register for in-person classes since Nov. 1 and, as a result, “his education and livelihood are being hindered,” the lawsuit said.

Gold “declines COVID-19 testing as an intrusive bodily intrusion, one that would subject Jonah to the unreasonable risk of a false positive with resulting draconian contact tracing and isolation,” it said.