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Florida judge latest to block Biden contractor vaccine rule

despite-global-pledges-on-vaccine-supply-only-7-of-africas-population-is-vaccinated
AFP via Getty Images
A Kenyan health worker prepares to administer a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to her colleagues, part of the COVAX mechanism by GAVI (The Vaccine Alliance), to help fight against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi on March 05, 2021. - Kenya received 1.02 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on March 3, 2021 part of the 24 million doses the country is expected to import in the next couple of months and has started dispersing the vaccines to stations around the country where healthcare workers, teachers and those with compromised immunity shall start receiving vaccinations. (Photo by Simon MAINA / AFP) (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images)

TAMPA, Fla (AP) — A federal judge in Florida has blocked President Joe Biden’s requirement for federal contractors to receive coronavirus vaccines, adding to a series of legal setbacks for the mandate.

U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday on Wednesday wrote that Florida’s lawsuit against the rule demonstrated a “substantial likelihood” that the White House did not have authority to set the requirement.

The preliminary injunction in Florida comes after a federal judge in Georgia this month had already blocked enforcement of the rule nationwide.

Judges in Missouri and Kentucky have issued similar rulings. The decision marks the one of the latest victories for Republican-led states challenging Biden’s vaccine mandates.