Federal court declines to lift stay on vaccine mandate
ABC News
A federal court has declined to lift its stay on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers
WASHINGTON -- A federal court declined Friday to lift its stay on the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay last Saturday of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.
Lawyers for the Justice and Labor departments filed a response Monday in which they said stopping the mandate from taking effect will only prolong the COVID-19 pandemic and would “cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day.”
But the appeals court rejected that argument Friday. Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt wrote that the stay “is firmly in the public interest.”