TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is suing the Biden administration "over the unlawful CMS vaccine mandate that threatens to exacerbate the health care worker shortage," her office announced in a release Thursday.
According to the rule, healthcare workers at facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding in Florida have until Dec. 6 to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The deadline to become fully vaccinated is Jan. 4, 2022.
Attorney General Moody says:
Seeing his job approval ratings plummet and losing control of the media narrative, President Biden, who once lauded these medical professionals as heroes sacrificing their safety to save Americans from COVID, now abandons them in a feeble attempt to score political points at the worst possible time—making another disastrous policy decision based on politics just as pandemic burnout is thinning our health care ranks and creating a dire staffing shortage.
Fortunately, the law is on our side and Florida has an Attorney General who is not afraid to push back against unlawful federal overreach. I filed a challenge to end the CMS vaccine rule—to protect doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, as well as the stability of the entire health care industry, against this power-hungry administration’s unlawful mandate that forces Floridians to choose between providing for their families and their health care autonomy.
This comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Thursday morning prohibiting COVID vaccine mandates by private employers in Florida. Employers who violate this will be fined.
Attorney General Moody filed the Complaint for Temporary Restraining Order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola.
The complaint names U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, HHS, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Chiquita Brooks-Lasure and CMS. It demands that the court immediately "enjoin and set aside the CMS vaccine rule."