US COVID-19 vaccine order revived, Reuters precedes Supreme Court

By Tom Hals and Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) – A U.S. court of appeals on Friday reinstated a national order for the COVID-19 vaccine or test for large companies, which includes 80 million U.S. workers, and opponents went to the Supreme Court to ask them to intervene.

A ruling by the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned the November order blocking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule, which applies to companies with at least 100 employees.

“It’s hard to justify what more OSHA can do or trust that workers are at serious risk in the workplace,” the opinion said. “It is not appropriate for the agency to decide on this second decision in light of the relevant evidence, including many of the peer-reviewed scientific studies on which it was based.”

President Joe Biden introduced regulations in September to increase the rate of adult vaccination as a way to deal with the pandemic, which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and weighed on the economy.

The verdict coincides with public health officials facing a “tidal wave” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tidal-wave-omicron-could-put-us-covid-19-surge-into-overdrive- 2021-12-17 As a result of coronavirus infections in the United States, the more transmissible variant of Omicron is spreading rapidly worldwide.

“Although we are disappointed with the court’s decision, we will continue to challenge the illegal mandate in the Supreme Court,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said on Twitter (NYSE :). “We are confident that the mandate can be stopped.”

Within hours of the verdict, at least three lawsuits were filed in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking the immediate blocking of the warrant.

A group of companies representing retail, wholesale, warehousing, transportation, travel and logistics filed one of the first demands in the High Court, which, among other things, raised the possibility of firing employees instead of firing.

“The resulting labor unrest will destroy already fragile supply chains and labor markets over the holiday season,” the petition said.

Companies like United Airlines have used orders to increase the number of vaccinated workers, often with a small number of workers refusing to shoot.

But others, such as Boeing (NYSE 🙂 Co, have suspended their plans, partly because of court rulings that have halted government orders, but also because of resistance among workers.

Courts have blocked Biden’s vaccination requirement for health care workers in half of the state, and a vaccination order for federal contractors has been blocked nationwide.

Friday’s verdict was 2-1 with Judges Barack Obama nominated by President Jane Stranch and a majority by President George W. Bush nominated by President George W. Bush. Judge Joan Larsen, appointed by President Donald Trump, did the opposite.

Republicans, conservative groups, and commercial organizations challenged the OSHA rule, arguing that the agency exceeded its authority.

The rule set a January 4 deadline for compliance, although it was not clear that the rule would be enforced because it had been blocked for weeks.