The battle over a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers is primed for its Supreme Court debut, now that a federal appeals court has ruled a temporary injunction should remain in place.
In a Dec. 13 order shared by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Biden administration’s request to lift an injunction on a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services mandate. On Nov. 29, a federal district judge agreed to temporarily block the rule covering healthcare staff in federally funded facilities from moving forward just days before first shots were due in arms.
The challenge was brought by Missouri, which was later joined by Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. The ruling applied to those states only.
A second preliminary injunction granted by the Fifth Circuit Nov. 30 paused the mandate in all other states, and CMS has since suspended enforcement of vaccination requirements.
The Dec. 13 decision in the Missouri case means the administration can now seek relief in the form of a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. The court has had its hands full with requests to intervene in state mandate cases, some of which it has simply decided not to hear.
On Monday, the High Court declined emergency requests from plaintiffs who wanted an injunction while New York’s healthcare workers mandate is battled in lower courts.
That state’s rule does not allow for religious exemptions, while the federal rule does.
The nation’s top court, which joined a lower federal court in rejecting the bid, had previously rebuffed similar challenges, including one in Maine.
