United States: no vaccine mandate for large companies

The plans of US president Joe Biden’s administration to make vaccination against Covid-19 mandatory at companies with 100 employees or more have been dashed. In a ruling passed on 13 January, the Supreme Court blocked the mandate introduced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The requirement was set to apply to some 80 million people and would have entered into force on 14 January (see article n°12779). However, the highest court in the US ruled that the Biden administration had no business making such a “a significant encroachment into the lives — and health — of a vast number of employees”, highlighting that the power to mandate vaccination at companies lies with the States and Congress, not OSHA. Three Democrat justices (Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan), however, reacted to their colleagues’ decision, saying that managing safety in the workplace is precisely OSHA’s role. President Biden meanwhile said the move to make vaccines mandatory at large companies was grounded in “science and the law”. The management of large US firms must now make a decision on the matter, with some, such as United Airlines, Tyson Foods and Google, having mandated vaccination (see article n°12848). The vaccine mandate for healthcare facilities funded by federal money was meanwhile permitted by the Supreme Court.