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Appeals anticipated after Kentucky judge blocks Biden's vaccine mandate

The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove stops the mandate from taking effect in Kentucky and two other states.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky's attorney general won a preliminary court order Tuesday to block President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccination mandate for federal government contractors and subcontractors.

The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove stops the mandate from taking effect in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.

“This is a significant ruling because it gives immediate relief from the federal government’s vaccine requirement to Kentuckians who either contract with the federal government or work for a federal contractor,” Kentucky's Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron, said in a statement.

Ohio and Tennessee joined in filing the lawsuit, which claims the vaccination requirement is unlawful and unconstitutional. The mandate requiring employees at federal contractors to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has been set to take effect on Jan. 4.

RELATED: Reports: Federal judge blocks Biden vaccine mandate for US health workers

“This is not a case about whether vaccines are effective. They are,” Van Tatenhove wrote. "Nor is this a case about whether the government, at some level, and in some circumstances, can require citizens to obtain vaccines. It can.

“The question presented here is narrow,” he said. “Can the president use congressionally delegated authority to manage the federal procurement of goods and services to impose vaccines on the employees of federal contractors and subcontractors? In all likelihood, the answer to that question is no.”

What happens next?

Kent Wicker, an attorney in Louisville and a former federal prosecutor, said he expects this case to be appealed immediately. If that happens, the appeals court could rule to block the mandate permanently or dissolve the injunction, meaning the mandate would take effect. 

Wicker said there's not a lot of precedent courts have to go off of when ruling on matters like this. 

"We don't have pandemics that often, fortunately," Wicker said. "So we don't have a lot of experience of knowing what authority that the federal government has to impose requirements either on doctors and hospitals or on federal contractors."

According to the court order, employees under the mandate must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 18, 2022, meaning they must receive their second Pfizer or Moderna shot or their single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot by Jan. 4.

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