OSHA formally withdraws vaccine rule for businesses

The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large businesses is officially dead.

The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday said it is pulling the vaccine and testing rules for businesses, effective Wednesday, Jan. 26. The move was expected in light of the decision earlier this month by the Supreme Court to block the rule. The mandate would have applied to some 84 million people.

“Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly,” the court wrote in a 6 to 3 opinion that had the liberal justices in dissent. “Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category.”

OSHA’ decision to withdraw the rule means that the related outstanding legal proceedings will be dropped. It also means that employers will be subject to state and local laws regarding COVID workplace regulations. New York City, for example, at the end of December became the first U.S. city to impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers.

“OSHA continues to strongly encourage the vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace,” the Labor Department wrote in the notice of its withdrawal.

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