A US federal appeals court has halted a vaccine mandate by President Joe Biden's administration that is intended to push millions of workers at businesses with more than 100 employees into getting Covid-19 vaccines.
The New Orleans-based US Court of Appeals said that because petitioners "give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate, the Mandate is hereby stayed pending further action by this court." The court ordered the government to reply to the motion for a permanent injunction by 5pm Monday.
Petitioners include five strongly Republican US states, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah and Mississippi, as well as several private companies and religious groups.