House passes GOP bill to end COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers
Abigail Adcox
The House of Representatives approved a Republican bill that would eliminate the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.
The Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, which was introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), would rescind the requirement that healthcare workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at medical facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid, including many long-term care facilities. It passed 227-203 early Tuesday evening.
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“The healthcare industry is already suffering from a severe workforce shortage that will have drastic effects on our ability to take care of patients,” said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) on the House floor Tuesday. “The personal health decision of whether to receive a vaccine should be left between a patient and their doctor. The federal government has no place in demanding what an American must do for their personal health and certainly as a condition of employment.”
The legislation also says that the Department of Health and Human Services cannot institute a similar vaccination mandate, which Democratic lawmakers say would prevent federal agencies from addressing ongoing and future public health threats.
Republican lawmakers noted on Tuesday that there were no other vaccines mandated for workers at federally funded medical facilities and that the bill leaves it open for localities to impose their own requirements. Democrats argued that the vaccine mandate continues to keep vulnerable populations, such as older people in nursing homes, and healthcare workers safe.
“Republicans are really putting politics over science,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ). “We’ve made a lot of progress because we base our actions on science, and to suggest today that we should eliminate this mandate I think is very dangerous.”
The Supreme Court narrowly upheld the vaccination mandate in 2022 but blocked the federal government’s broader vaccine or mask mandate for employers with at least 100 staff members.
The legislation has a slim chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate.
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It comes a day after President Joe Biden informed Congress he would end both the COVID-19 national emergency and the public health emergency on May 11, shifting the COVID-19 response to the commercial market.