Dec 17, 2021, 08:43pm
A federal appeals court allowed the Biden Administration's Covid-19 vaccine-or-test rule for private employers to take effect Friday evening, reversing an earlier ruling blocking it, in a win for the federal government.
On December 21, 2020 in Newark, Delaware, Joe Biden will receive a Covid-19 vaccine.
The images are from the same company.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals voted to overturn a ruling that stopped the Occupational Health and Safety Administration from requiring employers with 100 or more workers to have vaccinations against Covid-19.
The 6th Circuit had two judges who were appointees of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
The judge who was appointed by Donald Trump said that OSHA overreached its legal authority and didn't demonstrate why a sweeping nationwide vaccine-or-test rule is necessary.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked OSHA's rule from taking effect, but it was set to take effect early next month.
The majority opinion of the 6th Circuit states that the record shows that COVID-19 has continued to spread, kill, and block the safe return of American workers to their jobs. OSHA must be able to respond to dangers as they evolve.
In September, President Joe Biden announced OSHA's vaccine-or-test mandate. His administration has pushed to mandate Covid-19 vaccinations for federal employees and contractors, military personnel and healthcare workers at Medicare- and Medicaid-funded facilities as part of a bid to boost the nation's vaccine rates. Republican politicians and some employers have resisted the strategy. The vaccine mandate for federal contractors in all 50 states was blocked by a federal judge last week. The healthcare worker vaccine mandate was put on hold nationwide last month, but an appeals court allowed it to take effect in 26 states on Wednesday, and the Biden Administration asked the Supreme Court to restore the rule.
What to watch for.
Legal challenges over federal vaccine mandates could reach the Supreme Court. The court has upheld vaccine mandates from schools, private employers and local and state governments, but it hasn't weighed in on Biden's vaccine orders yet.
There was a majority of 58%. According to a poll, a majority of employed U.S. adults supported OSHA's vaccine-or-test mandate last month.
