Alabama Governor Kay Ivey made an executive order on Monday telling state officials to not penalize any business or employee for not observing the federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
Ivey also says that she plans to fight the White House in court, stating that her attorney general is preparing a lawsuit. The order can only cover executive state branch agencies and would not affect plans by in-state universities that earn federal funding to have all of their staff vaccinated.
This order comes after President Biden announced a mandate earlier this year requiring federal contractors, employees and health workers at facilities earning federal money to be vaccinated. Ivey and other republican officials have called the mandate illegal and unconstitutional.
Ivey has urged Alabamians in the past to get the vaccine and has stated that she herself is vaccinated. Alabama’s current vaccination rate is 44.4 percent.
