A federal appeals court in the US state of Louisiana on Saturday temporarily blocked the vaccine
requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers that was issued by the Joe Biden
administration.

The emergency stay of the mandate was granted by the 5th
United States Circuit Court of Appeals. The federal Occupational Safety and Health
Administration had issued an order that the workers in the companies having 100
or more employees be vaccinated by January 4 or face mask requirements and
weekly tests.

The 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, said it was delaying
the federal vaccine requirement because of potential “grave statutory and
constitutional issues” raised by the plaintiffs. The government must
provide an expedited reply to the motion for a permanent injunction on Monday.
The federal reply will be followed by a reply from the petitioners the next day.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the action stops
President Biden “from moving forward with his unlawful overreach.”

“The president will not impose medical procedures on
the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the
constitution,” Landry said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press.

At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in various
circuit courts, some of which had been made more conservative by the judicial
appointments of former Republican President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread
vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic that has claimed more than
750,000 lives in the United States.

The federal administration has said that it is confident that the
requirement, which includes penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation, will
withstand legal challenges in part because its safety rules pre-empt state
laws.

(With AP inputs)