Biden 'disappointed in US Supreme Court ruling on COVID vaccine mandate
US President Joe Biden says he is disappointed by the Supreme Court blocking his vaccine mandate for medium and large businesses.
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US President Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden expressed disappointment over a Supreme Court decision striking down his vaccination-or-test mandate, as per which medium and large businesses were required to vaccinate or test their employees for COVID-19 as the virus is resurging across the world.
"I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law," Biden said in a statement.
Biden also urged employers and business owners to "do the right thing" to protect the health of Americans and the US economy.
The US Supreme court's decision
The US Supreme court had blocked Biden's proposed mandate. However, the nation's highest court passed a vaccination mandate for health workers and facilities receiving federal funding.
Biden had pledged in September he was making vaccinations obligatory at companies with more than 100 employees after months of public appeals to vaccinate the population, which has so far killed some 844K US residents.
As per Biden's proposed mandate, unvaccinated workers would have to present weekly negative tests and be required to wear face masks at their workplace.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) gave businesses until February 9 to be in compliance with the rules, otherwise, they would be fined.
Despite his futile efforts, Democrat lawmakers have been pressuring Biden to do more in order to contain COVID-19; Democratic representatives Elissa Slotkin and Tim Ryan are urging Joe Biden to buy and distribute KN95 masks to all households requesting them.
The proposal is that the masks would be paid for by previously set funds allocated to combatting COVID-19.
