A federal judge in Texas Friday issued an injunction blocking the enforcement of President Biden's vaccine mandates for federal employees and contractors.
mandate for federal employees, arguing that he didn't have the authority to do so"with the stroke of a pen and without input from Congress."
"While vaccines are undoubtedly the best way to avoid serious illness from COVID-19, there is no reason to believe that the public interest cannot be served via less restrictive measures than the mandate, such as masking, social distancing, or part- or full-time remote work," Brown wrote."Stopping the spread of COVID-19 will not be achieved by overbroad policies like the federal-worker mandate.
The ruling from Brown Friday is not a final ruling on the policy. It simply blocks the mandate from being enforced while the litigation is pending. Samantha Ervin, left, a pharmacist at the Upper Tanana Health Center, administers the second COVID-19 vaccine shot to Maggie Roach Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, in Tok, Alaska.A ruling from the Fifth Circuit could potentially then be appealed to the Supreme Court.