The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Biden’s vaccine-or-testing mandate. The rule would require workers to be masked or vaccinated and tested weekly in large corporations.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a limited vaccine mandate for staff that worked at government-funded healthcare facilities.
President Biden’s Vaccine-or-testing mandate
As the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed President Biden’s Vaccine mandate, he expressed disappointment saying, “to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees.”
“I call on business leaders to immediately join those who have already stepped-up – including one-third of Fortune 100 companies – and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities.”
Nevertheless, the court has allowed healthcare workers who receive federal money vaccinations under a limited vaccine mandate.
However, the court’s ruling now implies that corporations across the country must decide how to care for their workers. They will deal with losing resistant staff members to the staff running afoul of regulations.
Other opinions on President Biden’s vaccine mandate
The unsigned majority opinion and the justices share conflicting views to assess whether Congress authorized the federal government to address the health care crisis.
In a disapproving opinion, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen G. Breyer expressed disbelief at the court’s willingness to frustrate “the federal government’s ability to counter the unparalleled threat that COVID-19 poses to our nation’s workers.”
On the other hand, the unsigned majority opinion said, The mandate “draws no distinction based on industry or risk of exposure to COVID-19,” adding it was “a significant encroachment into the lives –- and health –-of a vast number of employees.”
Nevertheless, the opinion agreed that some limited mandates are lawful as “most lifeguards and linemen face the same regulations as do medics and meatpackers.”
The dissenting justices wrote, “Underlying everything else in this dispute, is a single, simple question: Who decides how much protection, and of what kind, American workers need from COVID-19? An agency with expertise in workplace health and safety, acting as Congress and the president authorized? Or a court, lacking any knowledge of how to safeguard workplaces, and insulated from responsibility for any damage it causes?”
The disagreeing Justice in response to majority’s action actions in the case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, No. 21A244, wrote, “As disease and death continue to mount, this court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible.”
What is President Biden’s vaccine-or-testing mandate?
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Biden’s vaccine mandate. The mandate requires organizations with over 100 employees to get vaccinated.
The mandate also requires employees to submit a weekly negative Covid-19 test, and unvaccinated workers must wear masks indoors.
The court wrote, “Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category.”
In Conclusion,
While many have dissented the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, President Biden’s vaccine mandate is blocked. However, 5-4 majority sided with the Biden administration for vaccination rules for healthcare workers.
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