Alabama, other states, sue to stop White House COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Nineteen states are now suing to block President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine requirement for federal contractors. Alabama joined a lawsuit filed in Georgia also includes Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. Another action in Missouri on Friday includes that state as well as Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Texas sued individually on Friday, while Florida filed a separate lawsuit Thursday. The lawsuits argue that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in requiring federal contractors to make their employees get the coronavirus vaccine. Biden has argued that sweeping vaccine mandates will help end the deadly pandemic. Governor Kay Ivey also encouraged all state agencies to defy the Biden order. The University of Alabama system, and Auburn, jointly announced that its faculty and staff will have to be vaccinated, since the schools perform federal contract work