California Professor Suspended After Suing University Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

California Professor Suspended After Suing University Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
Vials of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are seen in Jackson, Miss., on Sept. 21, 2021. Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo
Bill Pan
Bill Pan
Reporter
|Updated:

A professor at the University of California–Irvine (UC Irvine) said he has been suspended after challenging the university system’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for people with natural immunity.

Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a professor of psychiatry and director of UC Irvine’s medical ethics program, brought the lawsuit against the University of California (UC) system in August. He said he has recovered from COVID-19 and developed durable immunity to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus that causes it, alleging that the university’s vaccination policy isn’t only unfair to him and other people with natural immunity, but is also a violation of their 14th Amendment rights.