Boeing suspends vaccine requirement for employees

Boeing took the decision after a court halted enforcement of President Biden’s mandate for federal contractors

The Boeing Co. suspended its mandate that all employees receive COVID-19 vaccinations. This was due to a Federal Court’s decision to halt enforcement of President Joe Biden’s mandate that federal contractors have a fully vaccinated workforce.

“After careful review, Boeing has suspended its vaccination requirement in line with a federal court’s decision prohibiting enforcement of the federal contractor executive order and a number of state laws,” the company said in a statement to FOX Business. “As we have throughout the pandemic, we will continue to monitor and follow federal, state and local requirements.”

The Boeing statement states that “We are committed in maintaining a safe work environment for our employees and advancing safety and health of our global workforce.” We encourage all employees to continue getting vaccinated, and to get boosters if they haven’t already.

After imposing the vaccine mandate, Boeing faced significant resistance from its employees. It was forced to compromise between complying with Biden’s mandate and keeping its workers in a competitive labor market. Sources told Reuters that nearly 9% of the workforce of the aerospace company – approximately 11,000 employees – had applied for medical or religious exemptions to the policy as of November 1.

The Biden administration issued mandates that federal contractors and certain healthcare facilities across the country must have fully vaccinated workers. However, these mandates have been met with a flood of lawsuits and have been halted.

OSHA also issued a regulation requiring private companies employing 100 or more people to require their employees to get vaccinated. A court also halted the implementation of this rule.