Supreme Court Blocks Vaccine Mandate for Large Private Business, allows for Health Care

Supreme Court Blocks Vaccine Mandate for Large Private Business, allows for Health Care

On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court blocked the Biden Administration from enforcing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandate that would have required workers at businesses with 100 or more employees to either be vaccinated or submit a weekly negative Covid test in order to enter the workplace. Additionally, the mandate would require unvaccinated employees to wear masks while indoors at the workplace. The Supreme Court held that while Congress has granted OSHA the right to regulate occupational dangers, they have not given the agency the ability to regulate public health more broadly.

However, in a separate ruling released simultaneously, the Supreme Court held that vaccine mandates could be enforced for health care facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments, as Congress has granted the Secretary of Health and Human Services the ability to create and enforce that type of rule.

The opinions can be found here for NFIB v. OSHA, addressing the occupational mandate and here, for Biden v. Missouri, addressing the health care vaccine mandate.