A judge for the Southern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking a Biden administration executive order that required employees of federal agencies to get COVID-19 vaccinations.
The judge found Jan. 21 that the choice federal employees had to make between their jobs and getting vaccinated amounted to irreparable harm.
Statutory authority asserted by the federal government gives “the President substantial powers, but not so substantial as to … require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment,” the judge said, according to law firm Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease.
Under the injunction, the federal government can’t enforce the vaccine mandate for federal employees in any state or territory of the U.S.
The Department of Justice intends to appeal the decision.
