The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to block New York state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers — a major win for mandates.
The highest court in the land voted 6-3 to uphold New York’s vaccine mandate that went into effect earlier this fall. In late October, the high court refused to strike down a similar vaccine mandate in Maine. It also rejected challenges at Indiana University, New York City’s school system and a Massachusetts hospital.
The decision was good news to Westchester Family Care President Glenn Lane, who mandated vaccinations for all newly hired workers at his Mamaroneck agency last summer, weeks before the state mandate took effect.
“The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirms New York’s authority to protect our community,” Lane told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse in an email.
Meanwhile, a federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers suffered a blow on Monday when a federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling that temporarily blocks the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s vaccine mandate.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Biden administration’s request to lift a district court’s injunction that blocked the mandate. The order only applies to Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
The appeals court decision is likely to pave the way for the Biden administration to ask the Supreme Court to stay the injunction.
