COVID vaccine mandate for health care workers rejected by Supreme Court

A challenge by ten states to the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers was rejected by the Supreme Court on Oct. 3.

Court judges declined to hear a petition challenging the lawfulness of a mandate imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The judges did not provide an explanation for their decision.

A comment request was not responded to by the Missouri Attorney General's Office, which managed the case. CMS and HHS did not respond to inquiries.

As a result of a higher court's reversal of a lower court's decision on the mandate, Missouri and other states asked the court in May to review the case.

They also erroneously stated that health care workers getting COVID-19 vaccines would “substantially reduce the likelihood that health care workers will contract the virus and transmit it to their patients.” Health officials have acknowledged that the vaccines perform poorly against infection and don’t lower transmission.

3 October 2022