A federal judge has temporarily halted the vaccination obligation for companies with more than 100 employees launched by US President Joe Biden, a commitment that some US states such as Texas, Utah, Mississippi and South Carolina have appealed against.
The court intends to examine the “serious problems of a constitutional nature” of the procedure. The measure Biden wanted would force tens of millions of workers to be vaccinated against Covid by January 4th. Those who do not will be forced to undergo regular tests. The obligation was the subject of appeal, especially by republican states.
The Texas Federal Court of Appeals decided to suspend. The latter explained that the plaintiffs “provided arguments on the basis of which there are serious constitutional and procedural problems” in the commitment, which was accordingly suspended pending an in-depth examination. “We have the opportunity to challenge Biden’s unconstitutional abuse of power in the courts,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote on Twitter.
Under the terms of the law Biden wants, those who do not comply with the vaccination obligation by proving they have received a double dose of Pfizer or Moderna will have to take an anti-Covid test every week, at the risk of losing a career. Furthermore, the tampons will be paid for by the worker and not by the company, unless state and local laws state otherwise. So, the obligation to vaccinate is also available to all employees who work in hospitals, health facilities or in nursing homes. While it has already started since September for all employees who work in the federal administration and for all employees of companies that work as contractors with the Washington government. Moreover, by next December 5, all employees who have not yet been vaccinated in private companies with more than 100 workers will have to wear protective masks in the workplace, again under pain of penalties. Meanwhile, it was confirmed that the United States is the country with the record of deaths due to Covid: deaths since the beginning of the epidemic have crossed the 750,000 threshold. Infections have reached more than 26 million. Currently, the United States has an average of more than 1,200 deaths per day from Covid.
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