BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Monday joined a third lawsuit against President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates.
This lawsuit, which originated in Louisiana, is a challenge to the requirement that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, the virus that has killed 3,752 Idahoans since March 2020.
A dozen states total, including Idaho, have joined in the lawsuit.
Little has also joined two other lawsuits opposing the mandates that federal contractors require vaccines and that private companies with over 100 employees require their workers to either get vaccinated or be tested weekly for COVID-19.
Under the mandate for healthcare workers, facilities that do not require their staff to get a COVID-19 vaccine risk losing access to Medicaid and Medicare funding.
“President Biden has no legal authority to force hospitals and other healthcare facilities to require their employees to get vaccinated. His illegal attempt would intensify a problem confronting our country – we already have a short supply of healthcare workers available to handle the pandemic," Little said in a statement. "As I’ve stated before, Biden’s coercive, threatening attempts to increase vaccination rates damage a country already divided. He is breeding a level of resentment and distrust of government that will take generations to heal. His actions simply are not good for our country, now or in the long term."
Several Idaho healthcare systems, including St. Luke's, Saint Alphonsus, and Primary Health already required their employees to get vaccinated, months before Biden's mandate.
Little joined the Louisiana lawsuit the same day the Idaho Legislature reconvened to take on the federal vaccine mandates, among other issues connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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