The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic.
A US federal appeals court has issued a stay freezing the Biden administration's efforts to require workers at companies with at least 100 employees be vaccinated against Covid-19 or be tested weekly.
The ruling from the New Orleans-based United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit comes on Saturday after numerous Republican-led states filed legal challenges against the new rule, which is set to take effect on January 4.
The ruling said that because petitioners "give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate, the Mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court."
In a statement, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said the Labor Department was "confident in its legal authority" to issue the rule, which will be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The two-page order directs the Biden administration to respond to the request for a permanent injunction against the rule by 5 p.m. Monday.
The stay comes two days after the Biden administration unveiled the rule, which was immediately met with vows of legal action from Republican governors and others, who argued it overstepped the administration's legal authority.
READ MORE: US states sue Biden administration over Covid-19 vaccine rule
Other legal challenges
The action on the private-sector vaccinations was taken under OSHA's emergency authority over workplace safety, officials said. The rule applies to 84.2 million workers at 1.9 million private-sector employers, according to OSHA.
The administration's various vaccine rules cover 100 million employees, about two-thirds of the US workforce, according to the White House.
Saturday's court order came in response to a joint petition from several businesses, advocacy groups, and the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah. The rule is also facing separate legal challenges before other courts.
An average of about 1,100 Americans are dying daily from Covid-19, most of them unvaccinated.
Covid-19 has killed roughly 750,000 people in the United States.
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