Landry, 21 AGs push Biden administration to drop healthcare worker COVID vaccine mandate

Louisiana’s attorney general announced Monday he is leading a coalition of 22 states that want the Biden administration to end a mandate for healthcare workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

The 22 attorneys general have filed a petition that requests the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services repeal an interim rule that requires medical professionals in qualifying settings to be fulling vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“Even though COVID vaccines have proven largely impotent in preventing transmission, studies have shown increased health risks associated with the vaccines, and the justification for the rushed mandate has disappeared – Biden’s decree remains in force,” the statement from Jeff Landry reads.

Landry’s statement did not include information about the efficacy of vaccines depending on higher implementation rates. As of last week, 55% of Louisiana residents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Public health experts say the rate needed to achieve herd immunity is at least 70%, a figure that has likely increased given the number of virus variants that have developed with vaccination rates so low.

The attorney general also did not provide citations for the studies that claim increased health risks.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked a similar Landry-led effort earlier this year that challenged workplace vaccine mandates. While justices blocked a Biden rule that required vaccines or regular testing at the workplace, they allowed mandate to stay in place in healthcare settings.

“This misguided Biden mandate remains a one-size-fits-all, job-killing directive,” Landry said in his statement. “Our healthcare heroes and their patients deserve better than medical tyranny.”

In addition to Landry, attorneys general from Arizona, Montana and Tennessee are leading the petition efforts.  Their counterparts who’ve signed on come from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.