Demonstrators protest outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. (Photo by AFP)

A federal appeals court has reinstated US President Joe Biden’s controversial vaccine-or-testing COVID-19 mandate for large companies-- a requirement that has been decried as an unlawful overreach by the federal government.

The US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit on Friday removed an earlier state by another court, which had blocked the nationwide mandate from taking effect.

The requirement, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), had mandated that businesses with at least 100 employees require staff to receive a jab or be tested weekly or face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

It was part of the Biden administration’s strategy to speed up vaccination rates as a way of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, which has now killed more than 800,000 Americans and affected the economy.

It is difficult to imagine what more OSHA could do or rely on to justify its finding that workers face a grave danger in the workplace, said the opinion. It is not appropriate to second-guess that agency determination considering the substantial evidence, including many peer-reviewed scientific studies, on which it relied.

The Friday ruling immediately caused opponents to rush to the Supreme Court to ask it to intervene.

While we are disappointed in the Court’s decision, we will continue to fight the illegal mandate in the Supreme Court, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said on Twitter. We are confident the mandate can be stopped.

The 6th Circuit’s decision comes as health officials have warned of a tidal wave of coronavirus in the United States driven by the more transmissible Omicron variant.

Judge Jane Stranch did not rule on the ultimate merit of the vaccine-or-test mandate but argued that it had the potential to be found valid to protect American workers from the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across America, leading to the loss of over 800,000 lives, shutting down workplaces and jobs across the country, and threatening our economy, she said while declaring the previous injunction unlawful.

At least 27 states have filed legal challenges in at least six federal appeals courts after OSHA, which is part of the Labor Department, issued its rules on November 4. The lawsuits contend that the mandate is an unlawful overreach and a power grab by the federal government.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ordered the injunction against the vaccine requirement last month, criticized it as staggeringly overbroad. It also said the states and businesses challenging the rule show a great likelihood of success on the merits.

The opposing rulings between the two courts set up a likely appeals showdown at the Supreme Court from the case’s petitioners. At the heart of the case is the constitutionality of a US president ordering such a sweeping nationwide mandate for private businesses.

Vaccine mandates have a long history in the United States but have generally been implemented by cities or states, not the federal government.

President Biden, however, has defended his vaccine mandate. Vaccination is the single best pathway out of this pandemic, he has said of the order.