MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US: SCOTUS rules against mandatory vaccination at workplaces

“The question before us is not how to respond to the pandemic, but who holds the power to do so,” the Court said.

The Supreme Court of The United States Thursday ruled by 6 votes to 3 against President Joseph Biden's vaccine mandates for businesses with 100 employees or more.

Twenty-seven states had asked the Supreme Court to grant a stay on the rule regarding vaccine mandates in the workplace. “The Supreme Court of the United States granted petitioner’s request stay the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during the pendency of the 6th Circuit Court.”

“OSHA lacked the statutory authority to implement the ETS,” the Court said. “The Act empowers the Secretary to set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures,” the ruling also pointed out.

“The question before us is not how to respond to the pandemic, but who holds the power to do so. The answer is clear. Under the law as it stands today that power rests with the states and Congress, not OSHA. In saying this much we do not impugn the intentions behind the agency’s mandate. Instead, we only discharge our duty to enforce the law’s demands when it comes to the question who may govern the lives of 84 million Americans.”

Biden's mandate would have forced employees working for companies with a staff of more than 100 employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or show weekly negative test results. The mandate allowed for all employees to be paid for the time taken to get vaccinated, and sick leave should any recipients sustain side effects. All unvaccinated individuals would be required to wear masks.

Despite the Court's decision, the Government has relieved six Army commanders from their duties for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, soldiers who resist being immunized are being fined US $ 3,000, according to the Department of Defense. The deadline for the injection was Dec. 15.

So far, the US Army has not yet taken other measures against the 2,994 troops who were reprimanded for not abiding by the Department of Defense regulations, which set Dec. 15, 2021 as the deadline for vaccination. According to Army sources, 96% of active duty soldiers are fully vaccinated.

None of the bodies that make up the Armed Forces has granted an exemption to be vaccinated for religious reasons, despite having received nearly 2,150 requests. In the case of the Navy, there are 5,209 soldiers in service who continue to resist being inoculated, of which 20 have already been sanctioned.

Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott has said he would sue President Biden for what he considers an unconstitutional measure. At the same time, Abbott advocated allowing National Guard troops stationed in that state to bypass the ban and carry out their work without getting jabbed.

The Department of Defense imposed the mandatory vaccine for all military personnel of the different bodies of the Armed Forces on August 24, giving each of its managers the authority to write their own guides for action plans, implementation and schedules.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said refusal to comply would entail consequences such as the loss of their salary. The Republican Governors of Wyoming, Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Nebraska jointly sent a letter asking him to reconsider the measure.