Biden vaccine mandate reinstated by federal appeals court The mandate requiring vaccines or weekly tests will come into effect on Jan. 4.

Biden vaccine mandate reinstated by federal appeals court

“The mandate requiring vaccines or weekly tests will come into effect on Jan. 4.

Dec. 17, 2021 5:47 p.m. PT

Vaccination or weekly testing has been mandated for employees at large companies.

Sarah Tew/CNET

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites.

President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate has been reinstated after a decision Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. It follows the mandate being temporarily blocked by a federal appeals panel in Louisiana last month.

The mandate requires employees at large companies of at least 100 workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or produce a weekly negative test, with the rules kicking in on Jan. 4, 2022. But the states of Louisiana, Texas, Utah, South Carolina and Mississippi joined with businesses as well as religious and advocacy organizations to file for a permanent injunction against the mandate.

Read more: Biden COVID vaccine mandate news

"OSHA [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] has demonstrated the pervasive danger that COVID-19 poses to workers -- unvaccinated workers in particular -- in their workplaces," the 2-1 ruling Friday said. "OSHA explains why the mechanics of COVID-19 transmission make our traditional workplaces ripe for the spread of the disease, putting workers at heightened risk of contracting it ... transmissibility is possible from those who are symptomatic, asymptomatic or presymptomatic, and variants are likely to be more transmissible."

The US reached the grim milestone of 800,000 COVID-19 deaths two days ago, according to numbers from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. With the emergence of the highly infectious omicron variant, COVID-19 cases are rapidly on the rise again.

"The number of deaths in America has now topped 800,000 and healthcare systems across the nation have reached the breaking point. COVID-19 affects individuals of all age groups; but on the whole 'working age Americans (18-64 years old) now have a 1 in 14 chance of hospitalization when infected with COVID-19,'" the ruling Friday added.

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