The federal judge blocked the medical worker’s mandate for a vaccine

November 30, 2021 – A federal judge ruled on Monday that the Biden administration could not impose a rule requiring virtually all health workers in 10 states to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Shelp of Missouri has issued a preliminary injunction that will remain in effect until the vaccine mandate makes its way through the judiciary and is likely to end in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers announced on 4 November that healthcare workers receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding must be fully vaccinated by 4 January or face loss of employment. The requirement covers 76,000 providers and more than 17 million healthcare workers, a CMS statement said. Healthcare workers had to be fully vaccinated by January 4th.

Prosecutors general in Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire immediately filed a lawsuit, saying only Congress had the power to issue such a requirement.

The judge, appointed by former President Donald Trump, agreed with this argument, calling the CMS’s action “a politically and economically huge mandate, changing federalism and pushing borders.”

“CMS seeks to overtake an area with traditional state power by imposing an unprecedented requirement to dictate federal private medical decisions to millions of Americans. Such actions challenge traditional notions of federalism, “Shelp wrote in his order.

The plaintiffs also claim that the CMS rule will cause millions of health workers to lose their jobs and create a shortage of health workers in rural areas.

The Biden administration did not immediately respond to the judge’s order, but said in the past that it would appeal all such decisions.

Other lawsuits have been filed for similar vaccine mandates. A three-member panel of the Fifth District Court of Appeal issued an order blocking the mandate of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for organizations and companies with 100 or more employees. OSHA has said it will not administer the mandate pending a judicial review.