(Washington Insider Magazine) -The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for Federal contractors has been contested and blocked by courts across the nation. The mandate, which required federal contractors and their employees to be vaccinated, was announced in July of 2021 as a part of the administration’s comprehensive covid response plan.
The policy was set to activate at the beginning of 2022, but has been contested in court in multiple states, led by Georgia. Judges in these states contend that the mandate is an overreach of executive power, and the president cannot use his authority to require Covid-19 vaccinations.
With over 800,000 deaths to the virus year-to-date, the president is facing pressure to halt the spread of the vaccine without further lockdowns which have curtailed the country’s economic bounce back. Recently, the country has been hit by a new wave of the Delta variant. Meanwhile, fears loom that the Omicron variant could cause a similar spike in cases and deaths across the country.
The mandate would impact close to 25% of workers, affecting some of the largest companies in the world from Defense & Aerospace, Automotive, and Big Tech. Currently, about 60% of the US population is vaccinated, while experts agree 80-90% of the population needs to be vaccinated for herd immunity.
Judge R. Stan Baker, a Trump-appointed judge, filed an injunction on Tuesday, December 7th claiming that while the vaccine could be effective in stopping the spread of the virus, the mandate was beyond the purview of the presidency. Other opponents of the directive argue that it would be an expensive endeavor that could cause many organizations to lose valued employees who refuse the vaccine.
Biden’s spokesperson has pushed back on the criticism, stating that the policy is within the legal right of the presidency. Moreover, the administration believes that policy can be successful, pointing to the 92% vaccination rate among federal government employees, which was spurred by a similar mandate earlier in the Biden presidency.
With multiple states contesting the executive order, the enforcement of the regulation has been temporarily halted nationally. While it remains to be determined if the Biden administration truly overreached, the country will continue to struggle with the spread of Covid-19 which has had a devastating impact on many industries including retail, hospitality, and K-12 education. If the mandate is not possible, the US government will need to seek alternative means to continue to build immunity nationwide.
