US Supreme Court halts worker vaccine mandate

US Supreme Court halts worker vaccine mandate

Washington, 13 January (Argus) — The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of trucking groups and other businesses that sought to suspend a rule requiring an estimated 82mn workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo regular virus testing.

The Supreme Court today voted 6-3 to stay enforcement of that rule, which would have applied to companies with more than 100 employees. Trucking groups, fuel distributors and other businesses said they opposed the rule in part because of concerns that thousands of workers would walk off the job rather than comply.

The ruling deals a blow to President Joe Biden's push to encourage vaccinations against a virus that has killed more than 840,000 in the US, according to federal data. A surge of new infections traced to the Omicron variant has caused an uptick in hospitalizations and another wave of disruptions to supply chains across the US.