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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked an order from the administration of President Joe Biden for mandatory vaccination or testing for COVID-19 in large businesses, at a time when infections are spreading rapidly.
On the other hand, the highest court of the country upheld the order for vaccination of health care workers. The court made the decisions after hearing Friday the pros and cons of the legal battle over compulsory vaccination orders undertaken by two federal agencies aimed at boosting U.S. vaccination rates and safety in the workplace and health care settings.
These issues tested how far presidential powers can go to cope with the growing public health crisis that has so far caused the deaths of more than 845,000 Americans. The court was divided in both cases. The court ruled with six votes in favor of conservative members and three against liberals, to block the decision on compulsory vaccination in businesses with more than 100 employees.
To keep in force the obligation to vaccinate health workers, the vote was 5-4, as court president John Roberts and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, both conservatives, joined the liberal wing. President Joe Biden said he was “disappointed that the Supreme Court decided to block reasonable life-saving instructions for employees of large businesses,” which he said “were based entirely on science and law.”
Mr Biden called on businesses to set their own vaccination rules, and noted that a good number of companies have already done so. The White House has said the two orders will save lives and strengthen the U.S. economy by increasing the number of Americans vaccinated.
The entities that had filed the lawsuits, including Republican-led states and an alliance of business and religious groups, had argued that federal agencies had exceeded their powers when issuing orders without congressional authorization. The Supreme Court’s review of these two cases highlighted how divisive the issue of vaccination has become in the United States./VOA
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