Editorial: Supreme Court vaccine ruling offers relief to businesses, workers

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a significant ruling on Jan. 13 impacting millions of workers and their employers.

The Biden administration had sought to implement an emergency COVID-19 vaccine mandate through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The rule would have forced employers with 100 or more employees to require their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to weekly testing and mask up when indoors.

Had it held up in court, the mandate would have impacted about 84 million workers in the United States.

We have written regularly about our support for the COVID-19 vaccine. Though individuals can still get the virus in what's been coined "breakthrough" cases, those who have been vaccinated typically have much milder symptoms.

Still, we don't believe in mandates in most cases. Individuals need to make their own health care decisions. In this case, the mandates would have put an undue burden on many businesses -- particularly small to mid-size companies.

The rule was unevenly imposed and deeply flawed. A company, for example, with 100 employees but spread out over several locations and employees having plenty of space to social distance was being treated the same as a facility with one worker next to another, hundreds in the same location.

While business leaders breathe a sigh of relief for now, OSHA said Tuesday it will keep working on imposing the mandate through the regular rule-making process -- a lengthier process. That's unfortunate, and hopefully that, too, will be stopped.

Meanwhile, the high court narrowly ruled that the federal government can mandate health care workers get vaccinated.

We are all tired of dealing with the pandemic. Whatever happened to "two weeks to slow the spread?" While we've made progress with vaccines and therapeutics, we still have to deal with this horrible virus.

Omicron, the latest variant, is highly contagious but less severe than its predecessors. This version hits fast and appears to go down fast. It's good to note that with omicron, cloth masks do not offer protection. So if you are wearing a mask these days, you may want to upgrade to an N95 or other similar high-filtration respirator.

For the next couple weeks, people need to be aware and show kindness as we work through the spike.

Which bring us to a final point: Kindness. Please be kind to others. This should be a standard for everyday living, but especially now and as it relates to COVID. If you want to wear a mask, by all means please do. But be kind to those who choose not to wear one. And likewise, if you are going to a business that requests you mask up, respect their wishes.

Realize that some individuals are dealing with challenges compounded by the pandemic. Extend some grace as we work through this together.