AMA Urges Preservation of OSHA Vaccination and Testing Mandate
On Nov. 11, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced via a press release that it is urging the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to preserve the temporary standard for COVID-19 vaccination and testing issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The release states that “In an amicus brief filed in BST Holdings v OSHA, the AMA stated that ‘COVID-19 poses a grave danger to public health” and halting enforcement of the federal rule requiring workforce vaccination and testing would “severely and irreparably harm the public interest.’”
Further, “The unprecedented and ongoing public health crisis caused by COVID-19 has wreaked havoc in communities across the country, taxed hospitals to the point of rationing care, upended the lives of countless families, and killed more than three-quarters of a million people in the U.S. To end the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent thousands more needless deaths, widespread vaccination is essential.”
Earlier this month, we reported that a Nov. 5 article from the website of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced he co-led an 11-state coalition in filing a lawsuit against Joe Biden and the Biden Administration to halt their vaccine mandate on private employers with more than 100 employees. In addition to Missouri, attorneys general from Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Wyoming also joined the lawsuit.
The AMA release explains that vaccines provide a safe and effective way to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace. “The availability of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, backed by a body of well-regarded scientific evidence from rigorous clinical trials, is crucial to preventing workplace outbreaks of COVID-19,” the release continues. “Evidence suggests that those who are fully vaccinated are less likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and are contagious for shorter periods than unvaccinated people.”
The release adds that “The AMA regards widespread vaccination as the most effective way to protect workers from COVID-19. No other measure has been shown to reduce the risk of infection, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 to the degree that vaccination does. According to the AMA’s brief, ‘other mitigation measures, such as mask wearing and social distancing, remain important. They do not, however, provide the same level of protection against COVID-19 as does vaccination.’”
The release concludes that “Existing vaccine mandates have proven effective, and the medical community has led the way in promoting vaccinations for the health care workforce. However, leading by example is not enough to end the grave danger posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective policies that require widespread vaccination must be preserved. The health and safety of U.S. workers, families, communities, and the nation depends on it.”
Democracy Forward, a nonprofit legal organization, represents the AMA in BST Holdings v OSHA.
