The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the Department of Labor suspended the “implementation and enforcement” of the White House’s COVID vaccine mandate this week after the order was challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
“On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay OSHA's COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard. ... The court ordered that OSHA ‘take no steps to implement or enforce’ the ETS ‘until further court order.’ While OSHA remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation,” posted the agency on its official webpage.
The Biden administration had previously argued the mandate was similar to other safety precautions, like mandatory hard-hats when working on construction sites.
“When this finally gets fully adjudicated, the validity of this requirement will be upheld. If OSHA can tell people to wear hard hats on the job, it can put in place these simple measures to keep our workers safe,” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told MSNBC News on Nov. 9.
The President’s order — issued in September — mandated all private businesses with more than 100 employees to require the COVID vaccine for workers with few exemptions. The mandate is scheduled to begin on Jan. 4 pending future legal challenges.
Read the full statement here. This is a developing story.
