Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the federal coronavirus vaccine mandate for health care workers, arguing that it is unlawful and will drive away employees who refuse to get vaccinated.
Under the rule, hospitals and health systems that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding have to require their employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Hospital and nursing home workers would not be allowed to test negative for the virus in order to avoid the vaccine.
In a statement, Cameron blamed vaccine mandates for worker shortages in the health care industry.
“Our health care workers have selflessly cared for their fellow Kentuckians during this pandemic, and now they are at risk of losing their jobs because of the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate,” Cameron said.
“Losing more because of this mandate would place an additional strain on many of the Commonwealth’s health care facilities and limit the services they are able to provide to Kentuckians,” Cameron said.
The lawsuit was filed in Louisiana and includes 14 states. A separate challenge filed in Missouri includes 10 states.
On Monday, a federal judge refused to block the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers as Florida’s lawsuit against the requirement moves forward.
This is the third national effort Cameron has joined seeking to block federal vaccine mandates in recent weeks. He also joined multi-state lawsuits against the Biden administration’s requirements for large workplaces and federal contractors to make sure their employees are vaccinated.
A federal appeals judge temporarily blocked the vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers earlier this month.
