US appeals court reaffirms hold on Biden’s vaccine mandate for employees

A US federal appeals court has declined to lift a block on President Joe Biden’s controversial vaccine mandate requiring workers at large private companies to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly tests.

Lawyers for the Justice and Labor departments had filed a motion Monday two days after the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana granted an emergency stay of the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test requirement, arguing it would only prolong the pandemic and “cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day.”

The appeals court rejected that argument on Friday and extended the stay against the federal mandate. The three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit said the states and businesses challenging the rule “show a great likelihood of success on the merits.”

The rule was issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and mandated that businesses with at least 100 employees require staff to receive a jab or be tested weekly and wear a mask.

“A stay is firmly in the public interest. From economic uncertainty to workplace strife, the mere specter of the Mandate has contributed to untold economic upheaval in recent months,” wrote Fifth Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt.

“From economic uncertainty to workplace strife, the mere specter of the mandate has contributed to untold economic upheaval in recent months,” he said.

The Fifth Circuit’s panel instructed the OSHA to “take no steps to implement or enforce” the requirement.

The ruling by the Fifth Circuit is unlikely to be the final decision on Biden’s vaccine mandate. Some challenges have been filed with other circuits, and one of those jurisdictions will be chosen at random to consolidate the cases.

President Biden announced in September that his administration would issue the vaccine mandate as one of several steps to contain the spread of the virus, which so far has claimed 750,000 lives in the United States. Other requirements were issued for federal employees and contractors.

At least 27 states have filed legal challenges in at least six federal appeals courts after OSHA, which is part of the Labor Department, issued its rules on November 4.

‘Unlawful, unwise’: States file lawsuits over Biden's COVID-19 vaccine requirement

The new federal vaccine mandate requires workers at businesses with more than 100 staff to get vaccinated by January 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.

The lawsuits contend that the mandate is an unlawful overreach and a power grab by the federal government.

The Supreme Court is expected to eventually weigh in on the matter.

The Justice Department said the Biden administration would defend the mandate through that process.

“Today’s decision is just the beginning of the process for review of this important OSHA standard,” Dena Iverson, a DOJ spokeswoman, said in a statement. “The department will continue to vigorously defend the standard and looks forward to obtaining a definitive resolution following consolidation of all of the pending cases for further review.”

Administration lawyers argue that there is no reason to keep the vaccine mandate on hold while the court where the cases ultimately land remains undetermined.

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