Supreme Court blocks COVID-19 mandate for businesses

Jan. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine or testing mandate for large private corporations but allowed a vaccine requirement for healthcare workers at facilities that receive federal money.

The high court voted 6-3 against the former.

The mandate issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in November called for workers at businesses with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or submit a weekly negative COVID-19 test. It also required unvaccinated workers to wear a mask indoors.

There were exceptions for workers with religious objections and employees who worked from home.

“Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly,” the court said in its ruling.

“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,” it continued.

Biden criticized the ruling in a statement and called on states and private employers to require workers to get vaccinated.

“I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense, life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law,” he said.

American Medical Association President Gerald Harmon called a vaccine mandate “one of the most effective tools in the fight against further transmission and death from this aggressive virus.”

“Workplace transmission has been a major factor in the spread of COVID-19. Now more than ever, workers in all settings across the country need commonsense, evidence-based protections against COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death — particularly those who are immunocompromised or cannot get vaccinated due to a medical condition,” he added.

Prior to the vote, conservative-leaning justices indicated they didn’t believe President Joe Biden had the authority to task OSHA with enforcing the mandate for companies with 100 or more employees.

The Supreme Court, though, allowed a similar mandate for medical facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid payments.

The healthcare mandate, issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, applies to about 17 million workers at 76,000 facilities, according to the White House.