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 The ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in St. Louis
prevents the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
from enforcing its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers until the
court can hear legal challenges brought by the 10 states.
CMS in a statement said it was reviewing the ruling, adding that
unvaccinated healthcare staff pose a threat to patient safety.
The ruling is the second legal setback for President Joe Biden, who
has focused on vaccines to halt the COVID-19 pandemic, a point he
emphasized on Monday amid concerns about the spread of the new
COVID-19 Omicron variant.
A federal appeals court in New Orleans earlier this month blocked a
sweeping workplace mandate that requires businesses with at least
100 employees to get their staff vaccinated or tested weekly.
Republican state attorneys general sued the administration in early
November over the CMS rule, seeking to block the requirement because
they alleged it would worsen healthcare staffing shortages.
Schelp, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, said CMS had
understated the "overwhelming" cost of its mandate and by declining
to submit the rule to public comment the agency had fed the vaccine
hesitancy the rule is meant to counter.
Schelp also said the CMS rule altered the balance of power between
the federal and state governments.
"Congress did not clearly authorize CMS to enact this politically
and economically vast, federalism-altering, and boundary-pushing
mandate, which Supreme Court precedent requires," he wrote.
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 Schelp's ruling applied in the
10 states that brought the case: Missouri,
Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming,
Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New
Hampshire.
On Nov. 4, CMS issued the interim final rule it
said covers over 10 million people and applies
to around 76,000 healthcare providers including
hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers.
The rule requires health facilities to mandate
all employees, volunteers and contractors have a
first vaccine dose by Dec. 6 and to be fully
vaccinated by Jan. 4. Providers that fail to
comply could lose access to Medicare and
Medicaid funds.
Medicare serves people 65 and older and the
disabled. Medicaid serves the poor.
In addition to the CMS rule and the workplace
vaccine requirement, the Biden administration
imposed coronavirus vaccine rules on government
contractors, military personnel and federal
employees, which are all being challenged in
court.
Courts have upheld mandates by private employers
and state governments, which have helped to
increase the rate of COVID-19 vaccination in the
United States.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration said a
total of 92% of U.S. federal workers have
received at least one dose of a COVID-19
vaccine.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware;
additional reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in
Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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