Everyone seemed to welcome or lament the Supreme Court's decision Thursday on the Biden administration's vaccine-or-testing mandate for large companies—except the companies. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican leader in the effort to block it, said the ruling is "a big win for workers across the country." Some public health experts argued it will now be more difficult to hit vaccination levels required to defeat the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reports. "This Supreme Court ruling will cost lives," a Boston emergency room physician posted on Twitter.
But many of the large companies that would have been affected by the rejected requirements didn't say much Thursday. The administration points out that they're free to impose their own rules, though they could be thwarted by new state bans, per the AP. Many, including Target, said they want to study the court's ruling before doing anything. The National Retail Federation, the American Trucking Associations, and the National Federation of Independent Business are among the organizations that praised the ruling.
Labor has been split on mandates, with many police and fire unions opposed. But labor advocates were displeased, per the AP. "This decision will have no impact on most professional and white collar workers, but it will endanger millions of frontline workers who risk their lives daily and who are least able to protect themselves," said David Michaels, who ran OSHA under President Obama. The UAW plans no safety changes at plants. The co-owner of a restaurant chain around Washington that has a mask-or-testing mandate said it makes sense. "If your priority is the economy, or your own health, or the health of others," Dan Simons said, "you would agree with my approach." (More mask mandates stories.)
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