On November 30, 2021, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for healthcare workers. Before this ruling, CMS required healthcare facilities enrolled with Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated as a condition of participation. Under the rule, all applicable staff must receive the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine by December 6, 2021, and the second dose by January 4, 2022.

In Louisiana, et al v Becerra, et al, the Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting CMS from enforcing its healthcare worker vaccine mandate until the Court can resolve legal issues. In the ruling, the judge opined that CMS does not have the authority to implement the mandate. The Court further stated that “[i]t is not clear that even an Act of Congress mandating a vaccine would be constitutional.”

The Court’s ruling is nationwide except for ten states (Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota) where a preliminary injunction was ordered by the Eastern District of Missouri on November 29, 2021.

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CMS COVID Vaccine Mandate On Hold

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