The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked President Biden’s federal COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate, although the battle over the jabs continues.
On the same day, the high court approved the federal vaccine mandate for facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funding. This means that hospitals and other health care facilities with millions of employees now have to be vaccinated. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal judges.
Having learned of the first court ruling last Thursday, N.C. Commissioner of Labor Josh Dobson expressed his relief in a press release. “I commend the Supreme Court for its decision, and I am thankful that the ruling provides North Carolina employers and employees with much-needed reassurance.”
Dobson continued, “As I’ve said previously, a COVID-19 vaccine mandate represents a serious government overreach and is the wrong approach, especially given the current workforce shortage.”
Not everyone is as relieved as Dobson. Brad Muller, vice president of Corporate Communications for Charlotte Pipe & Foundry, expressed his frustrations.
“This was just one more onerous regulation on business, and clearly had some constitutionality problems,” said Muller. “COVID is not an occupational hazard, it’s a health condition. Are we going to fire employees for not getting a flu shot, or a measles shot down the road? It’s a slippery slope.
“Vaccines don’t prevent the spread of COVID, we’ve learned that,” said Muller “So why impose that cost and that overreach on business?”
Gov. Roy Cooper has not yet publicly commented on the matter.
The decision over the vaccine mandate was made mostly along partisan lines, with Roberts siding with the conservatives who blocked the move for employers with 100 or more workers.
Lauri Salovaara is an intern for the Carolina Journal. He is a student at N.C. State University studying Political Science.