The Biden administration requested assist from the Supreme Court docket on Thursday, asking the Court docket to dam orders from decrease courts which are halting President Joe Biden’s COVID vaccination mandate for well being care employees in 24 states.
The mandate, for an estimated 17 million well being care employees to obtain at the very least a primary dose of a vaccine by Dec. 6 and be absolutely vaccinated by Jan. 4, is at present on maintain in 24 states after a sequence of authorized challenges and rulings throughout the nation.
Wednesday, the fifth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals based mostly in New Orleans lifted a nationwide ban on the mandate that was enacted by a Nov. 30 ruling from U.S. District Choose Terry Doughty, and allowed the mandate to remain in place in 14 states that had beforehand challenged the mandate with a federal lawsuit filed in Louisiana.
A November ruling from a Missouri choose that halted the mandate in 10 states can also be nonetheless in place, for the reason that eighth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals in St. Louis has declined to rule towards it.
The Biden administration is asking the courtroom to reverse the rulings blocking the mandate to permit the “urgently wanted well being and security measure to take impact earlier than the winter spike in COVID-19 circumstances worsens additional,” and stated the mandate “will save tons of and even hundreds of lives every month,” in keeping with The Related Press.
The Court docket has dominated in favor of vaccine mandates in current weeks. It allowed enforcement of a New York mandate for well being care employees that didn’t include non secular exemptions to proceed and refused to dam an analogous mandate for well being care employees in Maine.
Three conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented in every case.
J. Scott Applewhite/Related Press File
The Biden administration requested the justices to permit the mandate to take impact within the 24 states coated by these two courts’ selections. A federal choose in Texas granted an injunction Wednesday that applies solely to that state.
One different appeals courtroom, the eleventh U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals, allowed the mandate to stay in place, saying Secretary of Well being and Human Companies Xavier Becerra has the authority to require the vaccines.
At problem earlier than the Supreme Court docket is a rule revealed Nov. 5 by the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid that applies to a variety of well being care suppliers that obtain federal Medicare or Medicaid funding. It was projected to have an effect on greater than 17 million employees in about 76,000 well being care amenities in addition to residence well being care suppliers. The mandate has non secular and medical exemptions.
Authorized challenges to Biden’s vaccine mandate for personal employers are additionally ongoing.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
