Legal battle lingers over COVID-19 vaccine mandate in U.S. amid efforts to promote booster, pills

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States on Nov. 8, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The Joe Biden administration is asking a federal court to lift an order that blocked its rule mandating that larger employers require workers to get COVID-19 vaccines or submit to regular testing.

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. federal government is trying to persuade a federal court to rescind its freeze of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for larger businesses, which is viewed as a pivotal step to boost its vaccination campaign, while the country's top drug producers are enhancing efforts to promote their anti-coronavirus vaccines and pills.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated that 223,944,369 people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, making up 67.5 percent of the whole U.S. population; fully vaccinated people stood at 194,001,108, accounting for 58.4 percent of the total. A total of 24,795,097 people, or 12.8 percent of fully vaccinated group, have received booster shots.

LEGAL BATTLES

The Joe Biden administration is asking a federal court to lift an order that blocked its rule mandating that larger employers require workers to get COVID-19 vaccines or submit to regular testing.

The request, filed on Monday, came after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a group of businesses to halt the order, citing "grave statutory and constitutional issues." The ruling put the mandate on hold until pending litigation could be heard.

The administration claimed that the companies that won the emergency stay were not claiming a major prospect of harm from the rule until December, arguing that the court should allow the mandate to proceed. People are increasingly returning to work and they risk accelerating the spread of COVID-19 without the rule, said the filing by government lawyers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) last week announced the rule, which will require those companies to mandate workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing. A deadline for companies to comply with the regulation was then set for Jan. 4.

Visitors tour the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the United States, June 26, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

In a related development, a Texas federal judge ruled on Monday that United Airlines can mandate its employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Six employees sued to stop the mandate in September, arguing that United wasn't consistent in applying its rules for medical and religious exemptions and claiming that the company had discriminated against those who had.

"We're pleased with the court's decision today. We know that the best way to keep everyone as safe as we can is for everyone to get vaccinated, as nearly all United employees have chosen to do," said the major airline in the United States.

"The ruling is a victory for United, which in early August became the first U.S. airline to require all employees be vaccinated," reported The Hill on Tuesday.

BOOSTER AND PILL

Pfizer and BioNTech are expected on Tuesday to ask federal regulators to expand authorization of their coronavirus booster shot to include all adults, major U.S. news outlets reported, quoting sources.

"The Food and Drug Administration is considered likely to grant the request, perhaps before Thanksgiving. The federal government has been intent on broadening the categories of people eligible for additional injections since the first booster shots were authorized for emergency use in late September," said The New York Times.

"The request, which may be filed as soon as this week, is likely to win the backing of the Food and Drug Administration ... That would essentially fulfill the Biden administration's booster-for-all-adults goal, announced last August amid concerns about waning vaccine protection," said The Washington Post.

A woman takes the COVID-19 booster shot at the Tournament House in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, the United States, Aug. 19, 2021. (Xinhua)

Meanwhile, as Merck and Pfizer make efforts to seek official approval of their oral anti-COVID-19 pills, experts and doctors warn vaccine hesitant people not to confuse the benefit of the treatments with prevention afforded by vaccines.

"It's another important tool in the toolbox, but health experts want everyone to understand that these pills -- if approved for use -- will not do what the COVID vaccines can do. They do not prevent infection, and they do not stop the spread of COVID-19," reported Seattle's AM radio station KOMO News on Tuesday.

"Prevention is always better than a cure," John Swartzberg, an expert on infectious disease at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, was quoted as saying. "The vaccine is your backstop for this pandemic. If you have a breakthrough infection, you do have that pill you can take and it's going to really help you."

"But there's no guarantee you won't have a complication, and there's no guarantee you won't get hospitalized with the pill, and there's no guarantee you won't die or develop long COVID. So, the most important thing you can do is not get it (COVID-19) in the first place," added the expert.