Biden Vaccine Policy Halted... Corporate Vaccination Mandate Invalidated

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt a major blow to the Biden administration's vaccine policy by invalidating the mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees of large private companies.

According to the Associated Press on the 13th (local time), the Supreme Court ruled that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)'s mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees at private workplaces with 100 or more workers was an overreach of authority.

All six conservative justices opposed the mandate, stating there was insufficient legal basis for the vaccine requirement, resulting in a 6-3 split decision.

The Court stated, "There has never been a precedent for such a forced order," and added, "While Congress has enacted important laws to respond to COVID-19, it rejected legislation similar to the measures announced by OSHA."

However, the liberal justices defended the authorities' decision, saying it was based on a responsibility to respond to health emergencies occurring in workplaces.

Previously, the Biden administration mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for private company employees in November last year, requiring unvaccinated individuals to undergo regular testing and wear masks. Companies failing to comply faced fines.

As the number of vaccine refusers increased and vaccination rates stagnated, the ambitious policy pushed by President Biden has been abruptly halted.

The Biden administration also mandated vaccinations for healthcare workers in nursing homes and hospitals. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that this mandate should be upheld. This measure applies to 10.3 million workers at 76,000 institutions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.