Federal Vaccine Mandate Update

• By: Angela Westhoff
• On: 12/02/2021 15:28:57
• In: COVID-19

The federal vaccine mandate for health care workers is on hold following an order issued by a federal judge earlier this week. The preliminary injunction (PI) was handed down by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The CMS vaccine requirement was slated to require health care workers to be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022. The lawsuit is one of several challenges to the CMS regulation.

The federal mandate tied vaccine compliance to federal funding, requiring immunizations of millions of workers at nursing home, hospitals and other health care facilities that rely heavily on Medicare or Medicaid funding. The mandate is estimated to affect about 17 million health care workers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine mandate which impacts private employers with 100 or more workers is also on hold with legal challenges.

It is important to note that Maine's Health Care Worker vaccine mandate remains in place and the final immunization rule has been published. Enforcement of the vaccine requirement began on October 29^th. A Frequently Asked Questions document, including a chart comparing Maine and CMS Vaccination Rule (see Question 1), has been updated here.
 
Staff contact: awesthoff@mehca.org