The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Tuesday that it will withdraw the Biden administration’s temporary COVID-19 vaccine-or-test requirement for companies with more than 100 employees.
OSHA made the decision to withdraw the mandate following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that blocked the plan, according to the statement.
“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is withdrawing the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard issued on Nov. 5, 2021, to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers with 100 or more employees from workplace exposure to coronavirus.
The withdrawal is effective Wednesday.
“OSHA strongly encourages vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace,” the statement read.
The Supreme Court ruling two weeks ago said that “Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly.
“Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category.”
The court did allow in the ruling a vaccine mandate to stand for medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments.
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