US: Biden administration postpones deadline of vaccine mandate after court's ruling

A federal appeals court reinstated the vaccine mandated on Friday allowing the Labor Department in the US to postpone the deadline for employers to comply with its vaccine or test mandate, as per the reports of the Hill. The rule, first issued by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in November, requires organisations with 100 or more employees to require vaccination or periodic testing.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Labor Department stated that it would not issue penalties to firms that were not in compliance with the emergency interim requirement by January 10 in order to provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance. The original regulation stated that the workers who are not fully vaccinated must be tested on a regular basis after January 4. The OSHA announced that the deadline has been pushed out by one month.

The government requested that the requirement be reinstated

A coalition of states challenged the Biden administration's mandate for business in November, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit imposed a stay. Following that, the government requested that the requirement be reinstated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. In a victory for the federal government, the 6th Circuit ruled on Friday to overturn the 5th Circuit's stay of the requirement, stating that OSHA has proven the ubiquitous harm that COVID-19 poses to unvaccinated workers in their workplaces, according to the Hill. Officials have already indicated that the 6th Circuit's ruling will be appealed.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated on Friday that it was a bad decision by the 6th Circuit's left-leaning court. He further stated that it is "un-American" to impose an unconstitutional vaccine mandate on private businesses, forcing people to choose between unemployment and irreversible medical treatment, according to Hill. He announced that he will immediately take this to the Supreme Court to seek a reversal.

The government said it was happy with the decision

According to Hill, the government said it was happy by the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to reinstate the mandate. As of now, around 73% of the population in the United States have received one dose of the vaccine while 61% are fully vaccinated and around 18% have received their booster shots.

Image: AP/ Representative