Tester discusses federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements

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MISSOULA – Senator Jon Tester believes the focus should remain on individual action as debate continues over a federal requirement for large employers to require workers to be vaccinated to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initially ordered companies with more than 100 employees to require vaccinations or tests. But following a November 12 court ruling, OSHA suspended the rule pending a “new court order.”

On a recent visit to Missoula, we asked Tester if the agency’s rule was “overbroad”, as some have claimed.

“I probably would have if I was different myself. But look, I mean in hindsight, it’s still 20-20,” Tester said. “And in the end, I think what the president wanted to do was he wanted to put this pandemic behind us. It’s not yet behind us. And we all have to work together to make sure that happens. produce. “

The original emergency order had given large companies 30 days to implement a vaccination plan, or 60 days for a policy to mask and test workers who did not want to be vaccinated.

Last week, the various court challenges were turned over to the U.S. Sixth Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed an urgent petition in court to seek reinstatement of the warrant.

“It has put companies in a very difficult position where they can find themselves in difficult times. But I will tell you this. As an employee, if you work for a company that has contracts with the government, go out and get vaccinated, ”the tester said.

“This thing is for sure. It’s free. It works man. I had three shots and I meet a lot of people. And I’m sure I’ve been exposed to it through everyone I’ve met. And I haven’t gotten anything yet. And so that’s pretty cool, ”Tester continued. “So I would just like to cheer on everyone out there, get the hang of it. Do it. “

The situation is further complicated in Montana by the legislature, which approved a bill last spring claiming that a vaccination warrant is “unlawful discrimination.”

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined 10 other Republican attorneys general challenging the rule as an intrusion on state powers.

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