DES MOINES, Iowa – A federal district court judge in Augusta, Ga. on Tuesday placed a injunction on President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors. U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker in the Southern District of Georgia enjoined the federal government “from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or territory of the United States of America.”
Iowa was not part of this lawsuit, but joined a similar lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri. Iowa also joined lawsuits opposing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) rule for companies that employ more than 100 workers and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) rule requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated. This is just the second injunction in effect for Iowa.
Last week, a federal judge in Missouri issued a temporary injunction in the lawsuit that includes Iowa preventing CMS from enforcing its mandate. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in November issued an injunction against OSHA’s rule, but that applies only in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.
“Requiring these vaccine mandates will only exacerbate our existing workforce shortage in Iowa and across the nation, furthering our supply chain issues,” she said in a released statement.
“I believe the vaccine is the best defense against COVID-19, but I also firmly believe in Iowans’ right to make health care decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families, and I remain committed to protecting those freedoms. President Biden should do the same,” Reynolds added.
Read the ruling below:
The_State_of_Georgia_et_al_v_Biden_et_al__gasdce-21-00163__0094.0
