Healthcare workers in Nebraska get vaccine reprieve
Healthcare workers in Nebraska and nine other states got a reprieve, at least for now, from a mandate requiring Covid vaccinations for all staff employed by facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
That reprieve came from a preliminary injunction issued Monday by a federal district court in Missouri. Nebraska was among nine other states that joined Missouri in filing a lawsuit Nov. 10 challenging the mandate.
The mandate required that non-vaccinated healthcare employees must receive their first vaccination no later than Dec. 5 and have the vaccination process completed by Jan. 4, 2022.
Without the injunction, non-vaccinated healthcare employees in the 10 states would not have been able to work after Dec. 5.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) handed down the mandate Nov. 4.
Many of those facilities, already understaffed, have spent countless hours trying to figure out how they would cope with the possibility of losing even more staff.
“We’ve certainly put forth lots of serious, diligent time and effort on this the past two weeks,” Neil Hilton, CEO at PCHS, said.
Hilton said it’s unknown whether the reprieve will be for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or even made permanent.
In a release Monday, Nebraska Attorney General Peterson anticipates the federal government will seek immediate review by the Eighth Circuit.
“We are confident that the analysis by the trial court will be confirmed,” he said.
In the opinion handed down Monday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp of the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, ruled that Congress has not granted CMS the authority to mandate the vaccine.
He said the injunction was warranted “given the vast economic and political significance” the mandate will have, along with “altering the balance between federal and state power.”
He added that CMS bypassed the notice and comment periods required for such a mandate.
CMS also failed to meet its “good cause” burden in light of the “unprecedented, controversial and health-related nature of the mandate,” he wrote.
He ruled the states showed they would suffer irreparable harm if a preliminary injunction was not issued.
As an example, he cited current short-staffing conditions, which could create a risk to patient safety.
Joining the lawsuit were the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
A week after these states filed suit, 12 other states launched another suit filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division, challenging the CMS mandate.