Florida and Feds in Vaccine Mandate War - So Far Florida Wins

 I posted previously about OSHA's vaccine mandate. Now, OSHA has temporarily suspended enforcement, due to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' entry of a temporary injunction against enforcement. OSHA will appeal, but in the meantime, states like Florida are hurrying to implement let's-kill-our-constituents laws to ban vaccine mandates.

Florida has passed a law banning private corporations from mandating vaccines in the workplace unless they allow exceptions for religion and disability, mask-wearing, having immunity, periodic testing, and pregnancy (federal law already has exemptions for religion, disability and pregnancy):

 A private employer may not impose a COVID-19 96 vaccination mandate for any full-time, part-time, or contract employee without providing individual exemptions that allow an employee to opt out of such requirement on the basis of medical reasons, including, but not limited to, pregnancy or anticipated pregnancy; religious reasons; COVID-19 immunity; periodic testing; and the use of employer-provided personal protective equipment. 

The law details how to claim each exemption, and imposes fines on employers for noncompliance.

In the meantime, there is also the issue of mandates for healthcare workers. So far, the Administration has continued to enforce such mandates. The Supreme Court refused to enjoin enforcement. However, the 5th Circuit, which does not include Florida, did enjoin enforcement in 10 states, and another court which enjoined enforcement in Kansas. If resisting vaccine mandates for healthcare workers isn't the most idiotic and dangerous thing I've ever heard of, it's close. I certainly don't, as a consumer/patient, want any healthcare worker who isn't vaccinated anywhere near me.

Then there's the mandate for federal contractors. One court has enjoined enforcement in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

So, there's a mishmash of state laws, and there are a bunch of folks challenging every single vaccine mandate. Vaccines save lives, so the folks pushing these challenges are going to get people killed. But right now, it looks like the mandates are losing. 

Hopefully the Supremes will decide that the federal government does indeed have the right and duty to protect its citizens. Otherwise, anti-vaxers will start challenging other vaccines. Welcome back polio, smallpox, and other diseases we thought were gone. 

Let sanity commonsense prevail.