ALBANY — New York is extending a temporary, statewide ban on the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes, even as it’s barred from enforcing it due to a court order.

The state Department of Health’s Public Health and Health Planning Council voted Thursday to extend the ban another 90 days, as the old one is set to expire Sunday. The council also discussed adopting a permanent regulatory ban that would eliminate an exemption for menthol flavoring allowed under the current ban.

“We feel that a comprehensive slate of initiatives is needed to regulate e-cigarettes, just as we did with tobacco,” said Brad Hutton, deputy commissioner of the department’s Office of Public Health. “However, I think the single initiative needed to curb the incredibly high usage among youth is to get flavors out of the market in New York state.”

The extension comes as a legal challenge from the vaping industry makes its way through the courts.

That challenge, brought by the Vapor Technology Association and two of its affiliates, argues the Health Department exceeded its authority in enacting a ban that state legislators had already considered during their most recent legislative session but opted not to act on.

The legislative session closed, however, just months before a mysterious vaping illness began being reported across the U.S. Since then, 52 people are known to have died from the illness and 2,409 others have experienced serious respiratory issues that state and federal health investigators have linked to vaping. Two of those deaths have occurred in New York.

Vaping advocates point out that many of those cases were associated with black-market THC products, a connection confirmed by health authorities as well.

In September, Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed state health officials to pass emergency regulations banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, an effort he said was intended to combat the explosive rise in youth vaping rates.

Shortly after, the vaping industry won a temporary restraining order to block enforcement while a judge considers its lawsuit.

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who co-sponsored a 2016 bill to ban flavored e-cigarette sales, told the Times Union on Tuesday that she intends to revisit the legislation come January.

“I believe this kind of thing should be codified in statute,” she said. “It will have a much stronger, lasting impact than regulations, which can be challenged as we’re now seeing.”

Proposed regulations for a permanent ban are currently undergoing a final review, health department spokeswoman Jill Montag said. Once completed, they will be published in the state Register, which triggers a 60-day period for the council to take public comments before acting on the proposal.