Fresh off its stinging, strong rebuke by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Biden administration has formally withdrawn its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large employers.
The declaration formally takes effect today, according to The Epoch Times.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, acting at President Joe Biden’s direction, ordered private companies with at least 100 employees to vaccinate their staff or force them to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing while also wearing masks on the job.
Biden had opposed mandates as a candidate. But like so much of what he promised on the campaign trail, he abondoned that pledge last September.
In a speech unforgettable for its tyrannical impulses and divisiveness, Biden said the vaccine mandate was necessary to fight the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” and “to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers.”
“We cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the large majority of Americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal,” said Biden.
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us.”
The Supreme Court, however, snubbed that plan and the ideology behind it with a 6–3
vote to block.
The court said Biden lacked authority from Congress to impose such a rule unilaterally.
In its decision to yank the mandate, according to the Times, OSHA said it acted “because there is good cause.”
Accepting additional public comments on the mandate would be “impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest because it would unnecessarily delay the resolution of ambiguity for employers and workers alike,” OSHA’s said in its comments.
“Notwithstanding the withdrawal of the Vaccination and Testing ETS, OSHA continues to strongly encourage the vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace,” OSHA’s statement added.
Still, the fight may not be over.
As the Times pointed out, OSHA said “it is moving forward with a proposal to make the emergency temporary directive a permanent standard.”
Biden was not only beaten in court, but he was also beaten in the court of public opinion.
In September, just days after he announced the mandate, a Gallup poll found 58 percent of Americans supported the vaccine mandate for large employers. In early January, a YouGov poll revealed that the ratio was down to 48 percent.
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