A federal appeals court revived in 26 U.S. states a COVID 19 mandate issued by President Joe Biden's administration that requires millions of healthcare workers to be vaccinated if they work in facilities that receive federal dollars.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. was a rare win for Biden's pandemic strategy. The Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that a lower court had the power to block the mandate in only 14 of the 14 states that had sued and was wrong to impose a nationwide injunction.
The Biden administration mandate requires healthcare facilities to get staff vaccinated against the coronaviruses or lose funding from the U.S. Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, which administers the two large government healthcare programs.
The rule required more than 2 million unvaccinated healthcare workers to be vaccinated by December 6. It was blocked before the deadline and remains temporarily blocked in 24 states - the 14 states that are part of the case reviewed by the 5th Circuit and 10 states where the mandate was blocked by a Nov. 29 ruling from a federal judge in St. Louis.
The 14 states that are indicted are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia.
The administration argued that the mandate will potentially save thousands of lives every month, with COVID 19 cases and deaths expected to spike with the arrival of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant. More than 800,000 Americans have been killed due to a lawsuit seeking to block vaccine mandates issued by governments and businesses as public health measures after a pandemic that has killed more than 800,000 Americans.
The 5th Circuit ruling said the Biden administration had not shown a strong showing that it has the authority to impose the rule during the litigation. Judge Leslie Southwick, appointed by Republican former President George W. Bush, and Judges James Graves and Gregg Costa, both of whom were appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama.
The rule is one of three far-reaching Biden administration requirements that aim to boost vaccination rates in the United States, where infections are rising and deaths remain above 1,000 per day. The rules have been challenged by Republican state attorneys general and conservative organizations and businesses.
In November, the 5th Circuit voted against the administration's workplace vaccine-or- testing mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees. The mandate, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA, is being reviewed by the 6th U.S. Judges appointed by Republican presidents are appointed by the Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
On Wednesday, the 6th Circuit sided with the Biden administration, agreeing to hear the case first before a three-judge panel rather than all 16 active judges on the court.
Two Republican-appointed judges used their dissented opinions in order to spell out their opposition to OSHA's mandate, which could indicate that the court is leaning toward reviving the agency's rule.
Brian Abramson, author on vaccine law, said the judges who wrote the opinions could be concerned that the court is going to go the other way.