FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday stopping the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for federal contractors in three states: Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron requested the court halt the mandate requiring all federal contractors be fully vaccinated until the case is finished. Ohio and Tennessee joined Cameron's lawsuit, which claims the requirement is unlawful and unconstitutional.
In his court order, U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove said the case is not "about whether vaccines are effective. They are." Instead, he said, the case focuses on whether Biden can "impose vaccines on employees of federal contractors and subcontractors."
"In all likelihood, the answer to that question is no," Van Tatenhove said. "So, for the reasons that follow, the pending request for a preliminary injunction will be granted."
The mandate was set to take effect Jan. 4.
A Louisiana federal judge Tuesday also blocked Biden's vaccine mandate on health care workers nationwide. Fourteen states sued the federal government over the mandate, including Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Some health care workers in the Tri-State have protested their employers' decision to mandate vaccines for staff.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati is set to hear challenges to the federal COVID-19 vaccine requirement for businesses with more than 100 employees. The court was selected by ping-pong ball as there were challenges filed in multiple districts.
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