An executive order signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday banned “any entity” to impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates on any individual.

The ban includes both employees and customers of any institution in Texas and removes all privately invoked obligations of getting vaccinated against COVID-19. 

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Abbott, who is a member of the Republican party, said in a press release on Monday that “no entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccination by any individual, including an employee or consumer, who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”

The decision has also been sent off to the state legislative bodies of Texas while Abbott proposed that the issue must be added to the “Third Special Session agenda” of the state House and Senate.

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The press release read, “Governor Abbott also sent a message to the Chief Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate adding this issue as an item to the Third Special Session agenda. The executive order will be rescinded upon the passage of such legislation.”

According to reports from the Texas Tribune, the lawmaking bodies of Texas are in their third special legislative session, which is scheduled to end on October 19.

The latest move to ban the mandated use of COVID vaccines in the state of Texas seems to be a response to a recent rule, which is supported by the administration of United States President Joe Biden, that directs all employers with more than 100 workers to be vaccinated or test weekly for the virus.

Abbott said in his executive order, “In yet another instance of federal government overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas’s continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster.”