Yesterday, a US Appeals Court suspended President Joe Biden’s plans to mandate covid vaccines for firms with more than 100 employees. However, the block is only temporary.
Biden’s law would require workers at private companies with more than 100 workers to get fully jabbed against Covid-19 or be tested weekly.
The court suspended the mandate saying it found “grave statutory and constitutional” issues with the rule, set to come into force in January. The court gave Biden until today to respond.
According to The BBC:
Five Republican-led states – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah – as well as private companies and religious groups, had filed legal challenges against the mandate.
They accused the president of overstepping his authority.
Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry tweeted that the court’s decision was a “major win for the liberty of job creators and their employees”.
If enforced, the ruling by the the fifth US circuit court of appeals would be a blow to the Biden administration’s sweeping measures to extend vaccination.
Mr Biden says the mandate, which would cover more than two-thirds of the nation’s workers, would set a national standard of safety at work.
On Thursday, the president said employees at large companies would have to be fully vaccinated by 4 January, calling vaccination “the single best pathway out of this pandemic”.
The Appeals Court decision to put a halt to Biden’s gallop is a big boost for US workers who do not want the jab, but it’s not over. The Biden administration response today will be very interesting.
