U.S. Supreme Court Permits Healthcare Vaccine Rule Enforcement

The Court stayed injunctions issued by two lower courts, finding that the vaccine requirement for healthcare workers was a proper exercise of the Secretary of Health and Human Service’s statutory authority to issue rules that he “finds necessary in the interest of the health and safety of individuals who are furnished services” under 42 U. S. C. §1395x(e)(9). Further, the agency had demonstrated “good cause” for issuing the final interim rule outside the typically required notice-and-comment period due to anticipation of rising COVID-19 infections during the winter season. The Court also found that the vaccine requirement was not arbitrary and capricious, which was the basis for the lower courts’ issuance of injunctions prohibiting enforcement of the rule.

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