Matthew Schelp, a judge from the Eastern District of Missouri, blocked a Biden administration mandate Monday in 10 states that required COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare workers, according to the Springfield News-Leader.
Schelp cited in the ruling that regulations handed down by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) did not receive approval from Congress to mandate vaccinations for health-care workers, which he argued was necessary given the mandate's "vast economic and political significance."
The CMS mandate was also issued without a standard period for public comment, Schelp ruled.
"Truly, the impact of this mandate reaches far beyond COVID," Schelp wrote. "CMS seeks to overtake an area of traditional state authority by imposing an unprecedented demand to federally dictate the private medical decisions of millions of Americans. Such action challenges traditional notions of federalism."
Schelp also argued, CMS "lacks evidence showing that vaccination status has a direct impact on spreading COVID" in health-care facilities.
Eric Schmitt, the attorney general of Missouri, led the lawsuit alongside Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and New Hampshire. The order will block health-care providers in those states from requiring workers to receive COVID-19 vaccines while the injunction stands.
If the administration appeals the injunction, it will land in the 8th Circuit, which has just one active or senior status judge appointed by a Democrat out of 14, Bloomberg reported.
Federal vaccine mandates have been the target of various lawsuits filed over the past few months. Earlier in November, over half of U.S. states filed or joined lawsuits opposing a vaccine mandate for employees of large companies, according to Business Insider.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a rule Nov. 4 requiring workers at companies with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or take weekly COVID-19 tests, which was blocked Nov. 12 by the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
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