More Vaccine Mandates Could Happen In Texas

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On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration officially approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. That means the vaccine is no longer under an emergency use authorization, and most likely the FDA will approve the other vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson soon.

The approval from the FDA may lead some Texas cities and counties to impose mandates on employees, or at least attempt to. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has an executive order that bans local governments from mandating that their employees get vaccinated. However, Abbott's executive order only applies to vaccines that are "under an emergency use authorization".

This has led some to push for cities to mandate that employees get vaccinated according to KXAN.

“I used to work as a city attorney for the city of Austin, and I had to be vaccinated to go work at City Hall,” said civil rights lawyer Mike Siegel. “To me, that same kind of common sense requirement would apply to COVID-19. If we have a fully approved vaccine, school districts and employers should be able to require vaccination as a condition of employment.”

While some are already pushing for vaccine mandates, including President Joe Biden, there are others who warn against mandates.

While it's possible that some local governments will attempt a vaccine mandate on employees, it is also very possible that Governor Greg Abbott could issue a new executive order forbidding vaccine mandates related to COVID-19. Right now you probably have local governments thinking about what they can get away with and trying to decided when and if the Governor will change his orders.