The COVID-19 infection rates dragged on in 2021, surging again with the delta variant at summer’s end and then the omicron variant at the end of autumn. Many employers chose to require COVID-19 vaccinations in the form of a “hard mandate”; others implemented a “soft mandate” requiring either vaccinations or regular testing by year’s end. Such employer policies were upheld by many district courts. Federally imposed vaccination requirements imposed by the Biden administration fared less well, as many of them—including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency temporary standard—were blocked by lower courts.
