As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to block the regulation, the Biden administration is withdrawing its Covid-19 vaccination and testing requirement.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced on Tuesday that it will withdraw the vaccination and testing temporary standard for companies with 100 or more employees, in a statement on the agency’s website.
“Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule. The agency is prioritizing its resources to focus on finalizing a permanent COVID-19 Healthcare Standard,” the Agency stated according to a report by CNN Politics.
Taking down the emergency temporary standard “does not affect the ETS’s continuing status as a proposed rule,” a spokesperson for the US Department of Labor told CNN.
“OSHA is evaluating the record and the evolving course of the pandemic. OSHA has made no determinations at this time about when or if it will finalize a Vaccination and Testing rule. The agency intends to work expeditiously to issue a final standard that will protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 hazards,” the spokesperson continued.
In a decision announced less than two weeks after the Supreme Court blocked the rule.
The Court dealt a major blow to President Joe Biden’s efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic using federal resources.
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In OSHA’s regulations, businesses with more than 100 employees had to ensure that their workers were fully vaccinated or tested regularly and wore face coverings at work.
“After evaluating the Court’s decision, OSHA is withdrawing the Vaccination and Testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard,” the agency wrote in the federal register.
“OSHA strongly encourages vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace,” it stated on Tuesday.
OSHA said the withdrawal will take effect from Wednesday.
For months, President Biden has been emphasizing the need to get vaccinated against this virus, and he eventually chose the mandate on large employers as the best way to convince hesitant citizens to get their shots.
As the Supreme Court majority blocked the decision, it sent a strong message that OSHA, had overstepped its authority.
Meanwhile, a separate agency is authorized to issue rules protecting the health and safety of Medicare and Medicaid patients, according to the justices, but OSHA is exempted.
About 80 million people would have been affected by the rule.
Those with religious objections would have been exempted.
Earlier in November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the US Department of Health and Human Services rolled out a vaccine policy.
The bill required certain health care workers participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs to get the Covid-19 vaccine.