A sign on a restaurant window informs customers that they will need to present proof that they have at least partially been vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to be allowed to do business on August 20, 2021 in the City New York.
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The Supreme Court late Wednesday agreed to hear legal challenges to the Biden administration’s Covid-19 vaccine claims against large employers and healthcare facilities.
The court, in an order, said that consideration of requests to maintain those duties would be deferred until oral arguments on January 7.
The Supreme Court has compiled the applications of both challenges, which have been considered by Judges Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito, and both will be heard on January 7.
Lower court orders, allowing employers to authorize and allow partial delegation of health care workers, will remain in effect until then.
Late Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration is confident in the legal authority of both policies and that the Justice Department will defend both.
“Especially as the United States faces a highly contagious variant of Omicron, it is important to protect workers with vaccination requirements and testing protocols,” she said in a statement. . “At a critical time for the nation’s health, OSHA vaccination or testing rules ensure that employers are protecting their employees, and CMS healthcare vaccination requirements ensure that providers are protecting their patients.”
Last week, the US Court of Appeals 6 restore mission for large businesses, whereby employers must require their workers to be vaccinated or tested for Covid on a weekly basis.
Immediately after Circuit 6 ruling, major business rule challenge groups asked the Supreme Court to review the case.
The mission challenge group includes 27 states with Republican attorney generals or governors, private businesses, religious groups and national industry associations such as the National Retail Federation, the Transportation Association United States Commodities and the National Federation of Independent Business.
The Biden administration proposed two rules on November 4 along with more than 100 million US workers. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requires 76,000 health facilities that receive Medicare or Medicare payments to ensure their 17 million employees are fully immunized.
The Labor Department also proposed its own rule affecting private employers with 100 or more workers, requiring them to be vaccinated or tested for Covid weekly by January 4.
– CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report
