The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on two COVID-19 jab mandates on Thursday that impact millions of Americans across the country.
In a 6-3 ruling, the court struck down the OSHA workplace vaccine-or-test mandate. Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissented from the majority opinion.
In a 5-4 ruling, the court upheld the HHS COVID-19 jab mandate on healthcare facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments.
Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh joined Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, allowing the rule to go into effect.
VACCINE MANDATE STRUCK DOWN: Supreme Court blocks enforcement of Biden administration's OSHA workplace vaccine-or-test mandate, but allows enforcement of HHS mandate on healthcare workers.
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) January 13, 2022
Supreme Court blocks Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses.
The court did keep in place a mandate for workers at federally funded health care facilities. pic.twitter.com/vqfmU0ASUX
— The Recount (@therecount) January 13, 2022
BREAKING: The Supreme Court BLOCKS the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine-or-test requirement for large workplaces. The court ALLOWS a vaccine mandate for workers at federally funded health care facilities to take effect nationwide.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) January 13, 2022
Breyer, Sotomayor, & Kagan dissent from the decision to block the vax-or-test rule for workplaces of 100 or more employees.
Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, & Barrett dissent from the decision to allow the health care vaccine mandate to take effect nationwide.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) January 13, 2022
The ruling was 5-4 on allowing the HHS Medicaid/Medicare vaccine mandate, with Roberts & Kavanaugh joining Breyer, Sotomayor & Kagan to stay lower-court injunctions, allowing the rule to go into effect. Thomas & Alito both wrote dissents, joined by Gorsuch & Barrett. pic.twitter.com/VydnHytG6k
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) January 13, 2022
Opinion regarding HHS mandate for healthcare providers: https://t.co/oH1BWvC5mH
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) January 13, 2022
CNBC reported:
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its sweeping vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies, but allowed similar requirements to stand for medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments.
The rulings came three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency measure started to take effect.
That mandate required that workers at businesses with 100 or more employees must get vaccinated or submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It also required unvaccinated workers to wear masks indoors at work.
Yahoo News stated:
The court’s conservative majority concluded the administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees. More than 80 million people would have been affected.
“OSHA has never before imposed such a mandate. Nor has Congress. Indeed, although Congress has enacted significant legislation addressing the COVID–19 pandemic, it has declined to enact any measure similar to what OSHA has promulgated here,” the conservatives wrote in an unsigned opinion.
In dissent, the court’s three liberals argued that it was the court that was overreaching by substituting its judgment for that of health experts. “Acting outside of its competence and without legal basis, the Court displaces the judgments of the Government officials given the responsibility to respond to workplace health emergencies,” Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a joint dissent.
Although the moral decision prevailed with the OSHA mandate, a grave injustice was committed against the nation’s healthcare workers.
The Supreme Court upheld the mandate requiring COVID-19 inoculations for an estimated 20 million healthcare workers.
The United States already faces healthcare staffing shortages around the country, and the decision essentially tosses gasoline on the fire.
It’s up to healthcare workers who reject the experimental COVID-19 injections to not comply and force the change themselves.
NBC News wrote:
But the Supreme Court said a separate regulation that requires vaccinations for health care workers who treat Medicare and Medicaid patients could be enforced. Two federal appeals courts had blocked enforcement in 24 states, but the requirement went into effect in the remaining 26.
States opposed to the requirement said the federal law gave the government the authority to impose general health and safety rules for facilities like hospitals, but did not confer the power to require vaccines. The agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid has never before required vaccinations, they said.
Yahoo News noted:
The vaccine mandate that the court will allow to be enforced nationwide covers virtually all health care workers in the country. It applies to health care providers that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funding, potentially affecting 76,000 health care facilities as well as home health care providers. The rule has medical and religious exemptions.
Read the Supreme Court’s opinion on the OSHA mandate here.
Read the Supreme Court’s opinion on the HHS mandate for healthcare workers here.
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