Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, head coach Kevin Stefanski test positive for COVID-19 as does the team's second string quarterback as Mayfield blasts the NFL for vacillating on COVID-19 health and safety protocols.... By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

Democratic United States President Joe Biden and Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost

(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

COLUMBUS, Ohio— Separate rulings issue Tuesday by two different federal district judges have put a halt temporarily to parts of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccination mandates for health care workers and employees of federal contractors, one a ruling by a Louisiana judge that impacts healthcare workers in hospitals in Ohio and 39 other states who receive federal funding, and the other a ruling from a Kentucky-based judge that is effective for federal contractors in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, has joined both lawsuits for which the two judges have issued separate temporary injunctions, and the sheriffs of Geauga and Seneca counties as well as the states of Kentucky and Tennessee are also plaintiffs in the suit contesting the vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

Yost has called the COVID-19 vaccine mandates at issue an unlawful use of executive powers, and said the president "does not have the authority to make healthcare decisions for Americans.”

While the president's controversial vaccine mandates are supported by liberals and reputable medical groups, conservatives and anti-vaccination activists oppose the mandates and are taking their concerns to court.

The lawsuit relative to healthcare workers ultimately seeks to overturn the new federal rule that requires about 17 million employees at healthcare facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 unless they have a medical or religious exemption. Failure to comply after that date could result in discipline up to and including termination.  And the lawsuit filed regarding Biden's mandate for federal contractors with more than 100 employers to require vaccinations is asking the court to reverse that requirement. Both lawsuits seek class action status.

Ten other Republican state attorneys general in addition to Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana have also filed suit against vaccine mandates imposed by the Biden administration.

Supporters of the vaccination mandates, including the American Medical Association and a long list of other prominent health-care groups, argue that it is necessary to protect the medically vulnerable and to ensure the physical safety of employees of healthcare facilities. 

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in March of 2020, the Ohio Department of Health has reported some 1.69 million cases and some 27, 000 deaths.

Nationwide, some 49 million cases have been reported along with more than 800,000 deaths, compared to roughly 263 million cases worldwide and some 5.2 million deaths.

(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com) the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.