“Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule. The agency is prioritizing its resources to focus on finalizing a permanent COVID-19 Healthcare Standard,” the statement read.
The withdrawal of the emergency temporary standard “does not affect the ETS’s continuing status as a proposed rule,” a US Department of Labor spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
“OSHA is evaluating the record and the evolving course of the pandemic. OSHA has made no determinations at this time about when or if it will finalize a Vaccination and Testing rule. The agency intends to work expeditiously to issue a final standard that will protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 hazards,” the spokesperson added.
Tag: ETS
OSHA suspends implementation of workplace vaccine mandate pending further court action
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced that it will suspend “implementation” and “enforcement” of the Biden administration’s vaccine and testing mandates at private workplaces. The agency says it will now wait for future developments before proceeding with a new start date for enforcement.
OSHA suspends implementation of workplace vaccine mandate pending further court action
Federal Court Firmly Blocks Biden’s Unconstitutional Vaccine Mandate, Orders OSHA To Stop Enforcing It + WH chief of staff’s retweet may have accidentally helped critics of Biden’s OSHA vax mandate
The Details of OSHA’s Vaccination Rule for Private Employees Suggest Several Ways It Could Be Vulnerable to Legal Challenges
Employers who adopt a “mandatory vaccination policy” can comply with the ETS even if some employees are not actually vaccinated. OSHA allows the following exceptions: “those for whom a vaccine is medically contraindicated, those for whom medical necessity requires a delay in vaccination, or those legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation under federal civil rights laws because they have a disability or sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances that conflict with the vaccination requirement.” It seems those unvaccinated employees don’t have to wear masks or be tested each week, since those safeguards apply only to businesses that require employees to choose between vaccination and testing plus masking.
If so, a legal challenge could argue, OSHA is implicitly conceding that testing and masking of unvaccinated employees is not truly “necessary.” In the example OSHA offers, 5 percent of a company’s employees “are entitled to reasonable accommodation.” In terms of COVID-19 risk, that situation is indistinguishable from a workplace where 5 percent of employees simply choose not to be vaccinated.
The vaccination exceptions allowed by OSHA do not include people who are resistant to COVID-19 because they were previously infected. While there is considerable debate about how the protection offered by naturally acquired immunity compares to the protection offered by vaccination, the lack of an exception for people who have recovered from COVID-19 could be another basis for questioning the necessity of OSHA’s requirements.
Related:
EXPLAINER-The legal challenges awaiting Biden’s vaccine mandate
EXPLAINER-The legal challenges awaiting Biden’s vaccine mandate
EXPLAINER-The legal challenges awaiting Biden’s vaccine mandate
The vaccine requirement is being imposed through a rarely used process that has a history of being blocked by judges.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 