US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan rejects the claim that the Biden administration's mandate to vaccinate employees and health workers is an abuse of power.
Justice Kagan argues that the current extraordinary public health emergency should be addressed with exceptional means.
"It's an extraordinary use of power taking place in an extraordinary situation," the lady associate justice said, as per Fox News.
"We all know what the best policy is, we know the best way to stop spread is for people to get vaccinated, and to stop serious illness is for people to get vaccinated,"
Kagan pointed out that hundreds of Americans are getting sick and dying every day because of the pandemic. She called the Biden administration's policy "most geared" to help curb the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 virus when she questioned lawyer Scott Keller, who represented the National Federation of Independent Business.
She added that there is no other option that can lead to best results rather than to incentivize workers to "vaccinate themselves,"
Later on, Kagan later stressed that the challenges of the policy are asking courts to substitute their judgments for agency experts. But she argued that agencies, through the President, face political accountability while courts are unelected and do not possess epidemiological expertise.
Crucial Hearing Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
The Supreme Court Justices is set to hear separate oral arguments on Friday over the policy of the Biden administration will require health workers and employees of major private businesses to get vaccinated to slow down the spread of the virus, brought by the highly transmissible omicron variant, according to Time.
In November, The Department of Health and Human Services issued an emergency order that requires workers at facilities funded by Medicare and Medicaid to get vaccinated. The government agency argued that the mandate would help save thousands of lives each month.
The landmark hearing will determine whether it is lawful to require millions of doctors, nurses, and staff in health facilities to be vaccinated to be retained on their job and whether thousands of job providers must soon implement vaccine-or-testing programs for their employees.
Mandate Aims To Save Lives
However, the policy has been challenged by coalitions of states led by Republicans, business organizations, and religious groups. They accuse the Biden administration of human rights violations and power-grabbing.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the mandate aims to preserve the health and lives of people and that Congress had authorized the Labor Department to act with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, as per ABC News.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 205 million fully vaccinated Americans. However, millions of eligible individuals have not received their first vaccine jab.
The CDC data also shows that the US is now averaging a whopping average of almost 1,200 new deaths from the COVID-19 virus every day. Though it is higher by almost 10 % in the last seven days, the rate is notably lower compared to data one year ago. Around 828,000 Americans have died since the pandemic began in 2020.
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