According to court documents obtained by Business Insider, a federal judge of the Eastern District of Missouri temporarily halted on Monday the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in ten states.
Medical staff working in facilities operating under Medicare and Medicaid programs were required to be fully vaccinated by 4 January next year in line with the regulation issued by the Biden administration.
Claiming that the Biden administration’s regulation is unconstitutional, the US states of Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota had initiated legal action against it.
Judge Matthew Schelp from the US district court for the Eastern District of Missouri also quoted the foregoing reasons when granting the preliminary injunction demanded with the plaintiffs’ motion.
According to the court order, any Medicare and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers within those 10 states must immediately cease all implementation or enforcement of the mandate.
Judge Schelp, nominated by former President Trump in 2019, said that his decision is in favor of workers because it would ensure that “federal agencies do not extend their power beyond the express delegation from Congres.”
According to him, the vaccine mandate would impose a burden on the healthcare facilities’ ability to provide proper care, and thus, save lives.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued on November 4, an Interim Final Rule requiring nearly every employee, volunteer, and third-party contractor working at 15 categories of healthcare facilities to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The OSHA- announced mandate requires either COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing, as well as workplace masking by January 4. According to some experts, OSHA’s rule is neither legal nor enforceable.
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