U.S. Supreme Court to take up Biden vaccine mandate cases

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to take up disputes over the Biden administration's nationwide vaccine-or-testing COVID19 mandate for large businesses and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers.

The brief court order said the court will hear oral arguments on Jan. 7 in the two cases, with rulings likely to follow in short order.

The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, delayed action on emergency requests in both cases that sought an immediate decision. The workplace mandate is currently in effect nationwide, while the healthcare worker mandate is blocked in half of the 50 U.S. states.

The White House is confident in the legal authority for the two mandates, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement, and the Justice Department "will vigorously defend both at the Supreme Court."

The challenges reached the high court as the new, highly transmissible Omicron variant surges, with public health officials bracing for a "tidal wave" of cases in the United States.

An appeals court on Friday allowed the workplace mandate, which covers 80 million American workers, to go into effect, prompting businesses, states and other groups challenging the policy to ask the Supreme Court to block it.

The other case concerns whether the administration can require healthcare workers at facilities that treat federally funded Medicare and Medicaid patients to receive shots while litigation continues.