US court halts Joe Biden’s vax mandate for big companies

A nurse fills a syringe with the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Southfield, Michigan. Pic/AFP

A United States (US) federal appeals court has ruled to temporarily halt a mandate by President Joe Biden's administration that required employees of large companies to get vaccinated or undergo frequent testing.

According to the mandate, employees of companies with a workforce of 100 or more must be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022, reports Xinhua news agency. Unvaccinated employees must submit weekly negative Covid-19 tests to enter the workplace after the deadline, and have to wear masks indoors at their workplaces starting December 5.

Issued by three judges from the S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the order reasoned that "there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate" and suspended the mandate "pending further action by this court".

Russia records over 41k fresh cases

Russia reported a record daily Covid-19 cases of 41,335 over the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 8,755,930, the official monitoring and response centre has said. The nationwide Covid-19 death toll grew by 1,188 to 245,635, while the recoveries increased by 29,201 to 7,535,172.

Tanzania to vaccinate nearly 1L people daily

Tanzanian authorities has said that between 80,000 and 100,000 people will be vaccinated daily against Covid-19 during the second phase of the inoculation campaign. A statement by the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children on Saturday said the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Abel Makubi, revealed the acceleration of the vaccination in a meeting with regional medical officers and Covid-19 vaccination coordinators in the capital Dodoma.

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