RICHMOND — Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares announced plans on Friday to challenge the Biden administration’s coronavirus vaccine mandates on large, private employers, certain federally funded health-care workers and Head Start teachers.
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Youngkin and Miyares, Republicans who will take office Jan. 15, plan to either join existing lawsuits brought by other GOP-led states or file their own, a tactical decision that had not yet been made by Friday afternoon.
Two existing cases — one challenging mandates on health-care workers and the other fighting the vaccine-or-testing requirement on private employers — were before the U.S. Supreme Court Friday. The justices were considering emergency petitions to either allow the regulations to go into effect or stop them while legal challenges continue.
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At least two dozen other states are already suing over President Biden’s order that teachers in the federally funded Head Start early-childhood education program be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The announcement by Youngkin and Miyares shows an early determination by the newly elected Republicans to buck the more restrictive coronavirus precautions favored by Democrats. They are making this push at a time when the highly contagious omicron variant is feeding a new surge in cases, with the number of people hospitalized in Virginia with covid-19 hitting an all-time high Friday.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, bracing for a continued post-holiday surge, urged state Health Commissioner Norman Oliver in a recent letter to ease certain standards so they can better handle the surge. Those include waiving certain license requirements for staff and adding bed capacity, according to the letter, which was obtained by The Washington Post.
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Saying emergency rooms are “overwhelmed,” the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians has urged outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam (D) to declare a state of emergency and open more testing sites. Northam’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, leaders in the House and Senate were rolling out or finalizing safety protocols for the 60-day General Assembly session that begins Wednesday. The House, which met remotely in regular session last year, and the Senate, which decamped to a conference space where they could socially distance, will meet in person in the Capitol this time. Legislators returned to the Capitol for a special session in August, when cases were far lower.
Both chambers were making provisions for legislators to vote remotely if illness or exposure to the coronavirus forces them to isolate. Masks will be optional in the House as Republicans take control. A bipartisan group from the Senate, which has a narrow Democratic majority, was still working out its rules, but the upper chamber had plans to install a plexiglass panel in front of the dais where Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears (R) will preside because she has declined to disclose her vaccination status.
At the same time, plans were moving forward for large, indoor, mask-optional events celebrating Republicans’ return to power in Richmond, including an inauguration-night celebration with a band.
Portnoy reported from Washington.