SC Attorney General filed lawsuit to block vaccine mandate for health care workers

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a lawsuit Monday in federal court that attempts to block the Biden administration’s requirement for health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

South Carolina joined 11 other states in claiming that it would be injured by the mandate, which was imposed on Nov. 5 and applies to some 17 million people who work in health care facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, that receive federal funding from Medicare or Medicaid. Under the federal government’s mandate, those workers would have to be vaccinated by Jan. 4.

The lawsuit states that because the mandate would require health care workers to vaccinate against COVID-19, millions would be forced to quit their jobs instead of getting the jab. That could worsen the health care sector’s labor shortage, and eventually, patient well-being, the document specifies.

The suit maintains the federal mandate suffers from more flaws, including that it violates the 10th Amendment. That amendment allows that any power not delegated to the federal government by the constitution belongs to the states or to the people.

“The Biden Administration has struck once again, attempting to coerce our healthcare workers into being vaccinated,” Attorney General Wilson said in a statement released to the media. “The Federal Government seeks to bully the sovereign State of South Carolina into submission with the promise of federal funds.”

Noncompliance with the vaccine mandate threatens a substantial portion of budgets of the states that filed the lawsuit. When asked to explain how that potential financial loss could impact South Carolina, a spokesperson for the Attorney General said the office would not comment on the pending litigation.

Representatives from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the mandate would protect patients and their essential health care workers when the federal government announced it.

“The emergency regulation issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today protects those fighting this virus on the front lines while also delivering assurances to individuals and their families that they will be protected when seeking care,” the group said in a statement. “Unvaccinated staff pose both a direct and indirect threat to the very patients that they serve.”

A separate vaccine mandate announced by the Biden administration, which would require companies with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers receive the COVID vaccine, has been temporarily blocked by courts.

This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 2:14 PM.