A judge has blocked enforcement of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in 10 rural states pending a trial over whether the federal government exceeded its authority in issuing the nationwide requirement.
Matthew T. Schelp, U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, granted the preliminary injunction Monday in the wake of a Nov. 10 lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of those 10 states.
Their complaint—along with another filed shortly afterward by 12 more states—asked the court to declare the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) emergency interim final rule unlawful, citing the ongoing workforce shortages affecting healthcare providers in their states and elsewhere across the country.
