Biden ‘disappointed’ by SCOTUS’ decision to block COVID vaccine-or-test mandate

Joe Biden on Thursday said that he is disappointed that the Supreme Court chose to block his vaccine mandate for businesses. The President further called on leaders to ‘ immediately join those who have already stepped up’ and institute COVID-19 vaccine requirements. 

The court, however, allowed the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the US. 

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Biden, as per a White House press release, said that his administration began to institute vaccination requirements when 90 million Americans were unvaccinated. The number has come down to 35 million, he added. 

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the requirement for health care workers will save lives: the lives of patients who seek care in medical facilities, as well as the lives of doctors, nurses, and others who work there. It will cover 10.4 million health care workers at 76,000 medical facilities. We will enforce it,” the President’s statement read. 

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Expressing his disappointment in the SCOTUS’ call to block the mandate for businesses, Biden further added,”This emergency standard allowed employers to require vaccinations or to permit workers to refuse to be vaccinated, so long as they were tested once a week and wore a mask at work: a very modest burden.”

The decision to institute mandates and vaccine requirements now lies with the states and individual employers. 

“I call on business leaders to immediately join those who have already stepped up – including one third of Fortune 100 companies – and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities.”

“We have to keep working together if we want to save lives, keep people working, and put this pandemic behind us,” Biden said. 

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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 and OSHA had estimated that the rule would save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations over six months.

With inputs from the Associated Press