US federal appeals court halts Biden's COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate for businesses

A US federal appeals court temporarily stopped President Biden from implementing his COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The court order halts all businesses that have at least 100 employees from being required to receive weekly testing or vaccinations.

Republicans were immediately critical of Biden's September announcement of the vaccine order.

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On Saturday, a US federal appeals court froze President Joe Biden’s directive that all businesses with less than 100 employees must receive COVID-19 vaccines or undergo weekly testing.

According to the ruling of the Fifth Circuit, the mandate of Biden could be subject to "grave statutory" and "constitutional" issues.

A panel of judges declared that the "Mandate is hereby STAYED" pending further action by the court.

Biden's mandate was initially expected to be effective January 4.

The court gave Monday, 5 p.m., to the government to respond to the plaintiffs' motion to a permanent injunction.

Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi are among the plaintiffs challenging the legality the federal vaccination mandate. This has caused a commotion among Republican politicians across America with over half of all US states joining or filing lawsuits against it.

Federal regulations required that employers employing more than 100 people must require weekly testing or vaccination against coronavirus. This would impact approximately 80 million Americans. This mandate would apply to 17 million healthcare workers employed in hospitals that accept Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement.

Missouri and 10 other states filed a lawsuit against the US Court of Appeals for Eight Circuit claiming that the mandate was unconstitutional, illegal, and imprudent.

This story is still in development. Keep checking back for more updates.