An appeals court temporarily halted a vaccine mandate imposed by the Biden administration on thousands of health care workers in 10 states. Monday, a federal judge ruled in favor of the workers who challenged the government’s vaccine requirement, saying it should be blocked. The vaccine requirement covers health care workers in 10 states.
10 States’ Vaccine Mandates Are Halted By A Judge
According to the Administration’s vaccine rule, around 17 million health care workers will be required to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, which affects around 76,000 hospitals and nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. An interim injunction ordered Monday by the judge is blocking the administration from enforcing the vaccine requirements in some states, including Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Before this order, numerous lawsuits have already been filed challenging the administration’s requirement for vaccines. On May 17, a federal appeals court panel placed on hold the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large companies. The panel cited grave statutory and constitutional concerns with the mandate. This has been one of the most significant blows to the administration’s vaccine requirement effort.
The federal vaccine requirement has, however, mostly held up to opposition. Over 96% of federal workers had followed the order by its deadline last week. If they do not comply with the order, federal workers will undergo a period of education and counseling. More enforcement measures, including termination, may then be taken. The move is not a cliff even though the deadline is drawing near, officials have repeatedly said, according to NBC, and an official with the Office of Management and Budget said workers won’t be punished until next year if they don’t comply with the change.
As the US prepares for the omicron Covid 19 variant, President Joe Biden said the US will not return to lockdown mitigation measures, urging calm because so much about the strain is unknown. Omicron is just the latest test for the administration of vice president Joe Biden, which has been trying to restore normalcy to the US for the holiday season while Coronavirus cases continue to rise. In response to the WHO designation, several nations, including the US, are enforcing travel restrictions from South Africa, which first discovered the variant. In other countries where the variant has been identified, Biden said he is not anticipating travel restrictions.
There is still uncertainty about whether the omicron variant is deadlier or spreads more easily than other strains. It is also unknown how the Covid 19 vaccine will perform against the variant. WHO said while data on the variant is limited, its potential for global spread is high, because the mutation might confer an advantage in evading immune systems and possible transmissibility.
Despite its absence, Micron has yet to be detected in the United States, but Anthony Fauci said it is inevitable that the variant will arrive in the country shortly. Biden noted that Fauci has expressed a belief that Covid 19 vaccines may provide some protection against this variant. If a specific shot targeting omicron is required, Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson are currently developing a contingency plan for the government.
