Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday banning cities or counties in the state from issuing vaccine mandates regardless of FDA approval status, even as more private employers go the opposite direction in requiring their workers to get vaccinated.
Abbott's executive order bans any state or local mandates to require Texans to be vaccinated against COVID-19, either as employees or to access public services or benefits.
It comes as the battle over vaccine mandates heats up, with private employers such as Delta Air Lines fining employees who refuse to get vaccinated, and Democrat mayors such as Chicago's Lori Lightfoot vowing to require the shots for all city employees.
The new order in Texas does not apply to private employers, which in the US generally have the right to require workers to get vaccinated. Instead it specifically prohibits mandates from government entities.
Abbott, a Republican, issued his new ban in an executive order to fill a loophole left by the full FDA authorization of the Pfizer vaccine. He had previously banned the requirement of vaccinations under emergency use authorizations.
'COVID-19 vaccines are strongly encouraged for those eligible to receive one, but have always been voluntary for Texans,' stated Abbott's new order. 'No governmental entity can compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.'
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday banning cities or counties in the state from issuing vaccine mandates (file photo)
The new order in Texas does not apply to nursing homes, state supported living centers, assisted living facilities, or long-term care facilities.
Abbott has asked the state legislature to take up the question of vaccine mandates and consider whether state and local governments should be able to require shots or passports.
'Vaccine requirements and exemptions have historically been determined by the Legislature, and their involvement is particularly important to avoid a patchwork of vaccine mandates across Texas,' Abbott said in a statement.
Texas joins 11 other states that have banned vaccine mandates through legislation or executive order, including Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. All have Republican governors.
Though the issue of vaccine mandates continues to be highly politically polarized, most Republican officials tend to support the right of private employers to require vaccines for employees, viewing the issue as best handled privately between workers and companies rather than by government fiat.
'I don't think the government should intervene. I think employers and employees should make those choices on their own,' Rep. Andy Barr, a Kentucky Republican, told WLEX-TV on Wednesday. 'That's the way it should be.'
Employment law in the US generally gives employers the right to require workers to get vaccinated, as long as the policy is job-related and consistent with business necessity, and provides for reasonable exemptions.
More and more companies are exercising this right. Delta Air Lines became the latest on Wednesday, telling unvaccinated employees they will have to pay an additional $200 per month for their company-sponsored healthcare plan.
In Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot told a press conference on Monday that shots 'are absolutely going to be required' hours after the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for over-16s - taking it beyond its emergency authorization phase.
Delta Air Lines has become the latest American company to mandate the coronavirus vaccine as the airline told unvaccinated employees they will have to pay an additional $200 per month for their company-sponsored healthcare plan
Mayor Lori Lightfoot told a press conference on Monday that shots 'are absolutely going to be required' hours after the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for over-16s - taking it beyond its emergency phase (file photo)
The FDA ruling prompted the Pentagon to order all 800,000 active service members to get the shot, while private firms including Delta Airlines and Goldman Sachs also told their staff to get the vaccine.
President Joe Biden has already signed an executive order requiring millions of federal staff to either get vaccinated or abide by a regular COVID testing scheme.
New York City, San Francisco, and New Orleans have all ordered vaccine passport rules requiring proof of vaccination to access public venues such as restaurants, theaters and gyms.
In Texas, Abbott also has banned state and local government mandates for wearing masks -- an order that faced a setback in court on Wednesday, when District Court Judge Tonya Parker ruled against the ban.
In her ruling she determined the mask mandate ban violates Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins' authority to prioritize public health during the coronavirus pandemic, FOX 4 in Dallas reported.
Abbott's ban on mask mandates has also met with resistance from the Texas Education Agency who has, for now, suspended enforcement of the mask mandate ban in the state's public school systems.
Nine counties, dozens of school districts and the city of El Paso have defied the Abbott mask mandate ban, and some of the state's most populous counties have asked for court orders to overturn or block enforcement of the ban.
Although this is an important victory, it´s really not a victory against a person or an entity,' Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county's leading elected official, said at a news conference. 'It´s a victory for humans who live in Dallas County against the virus.'
Texas is currently grappling with a COVID surge, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, as the state reported the most COVID-19 patients in its hospitals since the pandemic began.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 79 percent of the 85,874 Texas intensive-care unit beds are full, about 30 percent of them with COVID-19 cases.
Overall COVID-19 hospitalizations were a record 14,255 Wednesday, beating the January 11 record of 14,218 reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Texas 16,249,146 people, or 56 percent, of the state has received at least one dose, while overall, 13,446,300 people, 46 percent of Texas's population, has been fully vaccinated.
Emergency Room nurses tend to patients in a hallway at the Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital on August 18, 2021 in Houston, Texas
Reactions to Abbott's ban on vaccine mandates have been mixed, with some praising the governor and others saying the order disregards the growing COVID crisis in the state.
'Wow. Just when we think you couldn’t prove your disregard for Texan’s health any further… Have you seen the statistics from School Districts? Universities? Hospitals?? Anti-mask, Anti-Vax… it seems like Anti-Texan at this point Gregory,' one person tweeted.
While another person tweeted: 'Thank you Thank you Governor for respecting and supporting our freedom of choice.'
'At what point will this extend to all vaccines? Abbott’s mismanagement of this health crisis is epic. Get this guy out of here,' someone else tweeted.
Last month, Biden said he was weighing whether to require all federal workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after the CDC recommended that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should go back to wearing masks indoors in regions where infections were on the rise.
When asked about mandatory vaccinations for federal employees Biden said he was considering it.
'That's under consideration right now,' he said, 'but if you're not vaccinated you're not nearly as smart as I thought you were.'
He added that masking and vaccination were the best way to avoid a repeat of the lockdowns the country endured last year.
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