““She is, of course, unvaccinated.””
That was U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff talking about the recent positive COVID-19 diagnosis of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Palin was set to begin trial for her libel lawsuit against the New York Times NYT, -1.94%, but it has been postponed, according to the Associated Press.
Palin, 57, has been vocal about Americans not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Last month she told a group in Arizona that “it will be over my dead body that I’ll have to get a shot.”
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The one-time Republican vice presidential nominee says she has had COVID-19 before.
Palin’s trial surrounds claims that the New York Times damaged her reputation in a 2017 opinion piece by the company’s editorial board. She states the piece falsely asserted her political rhetoric contributed to a 2011 shooting of then-Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords — the New York Times admitted the initial wording of the editorial was flawed, but not in an intentional or reckless way that made it libelous, according to the Associated Press.
The trial can begin Feb. 3 if Palin has recovered from the virus, judge Rakoff said.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other experts and authorities, COVID-19 vaccines are safe and help protect people against COVID-19. “All currently authorized and recommended COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and CDC does not recommend one vaccine over another,” the CDC has said. “The most important decision is to get a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible.”