January 13, 2022 – On Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing controversial vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies. A separate regulation that requires vaccinations for medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments could be enforced, which would affect an estimated 20 million healthcare workers.
The court wrote, “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. 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.”
When the mandate was first announced last year, it was met with criticism and opposition from business leaders and employees alike. The rule was set to take effect on January 4, but OSHA pushed the date back for the litigation. This mandate would have covered nearly 80 million Americans, and “OSHA estimated that it would save over 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations in the next six months,” according to a report from NBC News.