Filing for injunctive relief in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, President Joe Biden hopes to reinstate his Sept. 9 vaccine mandates in the federal government and businesses with 100 or more employees. Several states attorneys general filed in the 5th Circuit Court in New Orleans, getting Biden’s vaccine mandates stayed Nov. 13. Fifth Circuit Court’s three-judge panel called Biden’s mandate “staggering over broad,”and “a one-size-fits-all sledgehammer,” freezing Biden’s mandate scheduled to go into effect Jan. 4, 2022. Biden issued his mandate through the Occupational Health and Safety Agency [OSHA], a federal department lacking the authority to issue a sweeping vaccine mandate, covering some 100 million workers. Now in the hands of the 6th Circuit Court, the court could rule either way. Under OSHA’s rule, several million U.S. workers could lose their jobs.
Fifth Circuit Court ruled that several classes of workers have little or no contact with the public, posing no safety risk for anyone, yet, Biden’s ban, would require them to either get vaccinated or face weekly Covid-19 tests. When it comes to the science behind vaccines, there’s little doubt that vaccines prevent Covid-19 infection, but, more importantly, prevent serious symptoms and hospitalizations. For that reason alone, Biden argues to the 6th Circuit Court that vaccine mandates save lives. Opponents to vaccine mandates don’t argue that vaccines are not safe-or-effective, but rather a citizen’s right under the 1991 Patients Bill of Rights to deny-or-accept any medical treatment, including vaccines, they see fit. Numerous states attorneys general believe it’s a citizens right to accept or deny medical treatments. Biden argues that vaccine mandates save lives, regardless of personal choice.
Whatever vaccine conspiracies swirl in the public, the U.S. has about 71% of its population vaccinated with at least two shots of mRNA vaccines, like Pfizer and Moderna” or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Center for Disease and Prevention [CDC], led by Dr. Rochelle Wallinsky, announced Nov. 22 that booster vaccines are now approved for everyone. Biden’s attorneys will argue to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that vaccine mandates are necessary to save lives, but, more importantly, get the U.S. economy and people’s lives back to normal. Judges will have to decide whether the presumed health benefits of mandated vaccines outweigh a citizen’s right to choose. Biden wants, if the 6th Circuit Court rules against mandates, they’ll at least uphold masking requirements and Covid-19 testing. Vaccine mandates have been a contentious issue across the political divide.
When the 5th Circuit Court calls Biden’s mandate “overly broad,” the law doesn’t take into account different types of employment. A solitary truck driver, for instance, doesn’t have the same transmissibility as a prison janitor. So when it comes to sweeping mandates, the 5th Circuit Court thought the law was overly broad. “All else equal, a 28-year-old trucker spending the bulk of his workday in the solitude of his cab is simply less vulnerable to Covid-19 than a 62-year-old prison janitor,” wrote Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt. “Likewise, a naturally immune unvaccinated worker is presumably at less risk that an unvaccinated worker who has never has the virus.” So when the 6th Circuit Court gets the case, they may wind up with the same conclusions as the Nov. 5 Fifth Circuit Court ruling. When it comes to the real issues, there’s only so may ways the court can rule on vaccine mandates.
When it comes to mandating vaccines, the 6th Circuit Court must decide whether the government under the president’s Article 1 powers has the authority to force citizens to take the jab, regardless of personal preference. Justice Department lawyers under Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland think the president has the authority to protect workers “under grave danger” of Covid-19 infections. Administration officials claim vaccine mandates could save some 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations. No one really knows—including the nation’s top scientists—whether or not the government’s claims about saving lives and hospitalizations are true. OSHA has no way to determine how many live and hospitalizations are saved from vaccines. Most labor and teachers’ unions want stricter vaccine mandates for all employees and students, trying to protect the safety of workers, teachers and students.
Once a critic of vaccines while former President Donald Trump was in office, now Biden wants vaccines for everyone, believing it’s the best way to get the country back to normal. With an expected holiday surge of Covid-19 in the U.S. and surges occurring in Europe and the U.K., Biden wants tougher vaccines rules before the country returns to the high rates of infection and hospitalization seen in Europe. Biden has no idea which way the 6th Circuit Court will rule. What he knows for sure is that vaccines save lives and hospitalizations. Whether they also prevent infections is anyone’s guess. More breakthrough infections may have to do with the original vaccines wearing off, now requiring boosters or second-and-third shots. If the 6th Circuit rules the same way as the 5th, they’ll uphold the ban on vaccines for all. Vaccine mandates require all parties to show common sense for the public good.
