Supreme Court to hear vaccine mandate cases
The Supreme Court on Wednesday evening said it would hold a special hearing next month to assess the legality of two initiatives at the heart of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the coronavirus in the workplace.
The court said it would move with exceptional speed on the two measures, a vaccine-or-testing mandate aimed at large employers and a vaccination requirement for certain health care workers, setting the cases for argument Jan. 7. The justices had not been scheduled to return to the bench until Jan. 10.
Both sets of cases had been on what critics call the court’s shadow docket, in which the court decides emergency applications, sometimes on matters of great consequence, without full briefing and argument.
The more sweeping of the two measures, directed at businesses with 100 or more employees, would affect more than 84 million workers and is central to the administration’s efforts to address the pandemic. The administration estimated that the measure would cause 22 million people to get vaccinated and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations.
The second measure requires health care workers at hospitals that receive federal money to be vaccinated against the virus. It “will save hundreds or even thousands of lives each month,” the administration wrote in an emergency application.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld state vaccine mandates in a variety of settings against constitutional challenges. But the new cases are different, because they primarily present the question of whether Congress has authorized the executive branch to institute the requirements.
WASHINGTON, D.C. Rep. Clyburn tests positive
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said this week he has tested positive for COVID-19, though he is fully vaccinated with a booster and has no symptoms.
The South Carolina Democrat, two senators and another House lawmaker said recently they have tested positive for COVID-19 after having been vaccinated: U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
FLORIDA Masks are back at theme park
Universal Orlando is reinstating its mask requirements beginning Christmas Eve as COVID-19 cases are surging as a result of the omicron variant. Daily cases of coronavirus have quadrupled in the past week in the state of Florida, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalizations have increased by 12%, the CDC says. Universal Orlando says masks will be required at all public indoor locations and at all attractions from the moment guests enter the lines to when they leave.
Walt Disney World earlier this year relaxed its face covering rules to require them only indoors, and has not announced any decision to revise their policy.
GREECE Christmas events are canceled
Christmas concerts and other events have been canceled in Greece under new restrictions announced Thursday that include a general mask mandate for outdoors and all public areas. Incoming travelers will also be required to have follow-up tests for COVID-19 on the second and fourth days after their arrival.
The restrictions will take effect Friday as the country braces for the expected impact of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, with the public health service already under pressure and intensive care space at more than 90% capacity.
AUSTRALIA Major spike in worst-hit state
Australia on Thursday reported a major spike in coronavirus infections, prompting the worst-hit state of New South Wales to reimpose mask wearing indoors, a day after Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected lockdowns or mask mandates for the entire country to slow the spread of the omicron variant. New South Wales recorded 5,715 new cases, up from 3,763 and almost as many as were recorded across all of Australia on Wednesday.
BRITAIN Omicron: Lower hospital risk
Preliminary data suggests that people with the omicron variant of the coronavirus are 50% to 70% less likely to be hospitalized than those with the delta strain, Britain’s public health agency announced Thursday in a finding that one researcher called “a small ray of sunlight.”
The findings from the U.K. Health Security Agency add to emerging evidence that omicron produces milder illness than other variants. But scientists caution that any reductions in severity must be weighed against the fact that omicron spreads much faster than delta and is better at evading vaccines.