“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 on Thursday.
This emergency standard allowed employers to require vaccinations or to permit workers to refuse to be vaccinated as long as they get tested once a week and wear a mask, he added.
The US Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large businesses, but backed the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, according to two decisions filed earlier in the day.
Despite the court’s decision, Biden still called on companies to join those who already imposed mask mandates to institute vaccination requirements as well.
Opponents of the Biden's mandates said the Supreme Courts decision on the OSHA vaccine mandate is a win for worker’s rights and a blow to what they call a tyranny of the administrative state. The opponents have continually argued the Biden mandate has not been grounded in science, was unconstitutional and pointed out that it is now unenforceable.