Tri-State attorneys general join lawsuit challenging vaccine mandate for healthcare workers

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Attorneys general in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana are joining a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost along with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Tuesday they signed onto the federal lawsuit filed in Louisiana. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita joined the lawsuit last week.

The vaccine mandate applies to roughly 17 million people working in nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities that receive money from Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Associated Press.

Healthcare workers do not have the option to forgo the vaccine in favor of weekly testing.

In separate news releases, Cameron and Yost described the vaccine mandate as an “unlawful use of executive power” and “unconstitutional.”

“We have seen the challenges nursing homes and other facilities have had in retaining and recruiting staff,” Yost said. “This mandate, and the walkouts that will likely follow, will only make those challenges worse– leaving vulnerable Ohioans without adequate care.”

Attorney General Cameron shared a similar opinion, saying the mandate will lead to a loss of healthcare workers.

“Our healthcare 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,” said Attorney General Cameron. “We are already seeing worker shortages in the healthcare sector. Losing more because of this mandate would place an additional strain on many of the Commonwealth’s healthcare facilities and limit the services they are able to provide to Kentuckians.”

Healthcare workers have until Jan. 4, 2022, to be fully vaccinated under the federal mandate.

The attorneys general in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana have joined previous lawsuits challenging the vaccine mandate.

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