A federal judge in Georgia has blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors.
U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia blocked the vaccine mandate nationwide, saying that the seven states that challenged the mandate – led by Georgia – would likely succeed in their lawsuits against the order, which would have applied to roughly a quarter of the U.S. workforce.
“Representatives from Georgia universities testified during an injunction hearing earlier this month, arguing that implementation of the mandate would be expensive, onerous, and cost them valuable employees who haven’t yet presented proof of vaccination,” Bloomberg Law reported. “Those schools receive millions from the federal government.”
The court found that the states would likely prove that Congress did not authorize President Biden to issue the vaccine mandate and that it “goes far beyond addressing administrative and management issues in order to promote efficiency and economy in procurement and contracting.”
Bloomberg Law noted, “Baker’s order follows a Kentucky federal judge’s grant last week of a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit involving Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. Baker echoed what his Kentucky counterpart said, that blocking the mandate didn’t indicate that the vaccine wouldn’t be effective to stop the spread of Covid-19, but rather that Biden didn’t have the power to issue such an executive order.”
COVID-19 vaccine mandates have resulted in mass firings across the country. For example, at New York’s Northwell Health, the state’s largest provider of health care, thousands of employees were fired after refusing the vaccine. Additionally, 200 UMass Memorial Health employees were fired this week after they missed their COVID-19 vaccination deadlines.
