Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.Photo: Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bannedcoronavirusvaccine mandates in the state in a newexecutive orderissued Monday.
Under the order, Texas now prohibits governmental entities — including private businesses — from requiring individuals, employees or consumers to receive a coronavirus vaccine.
Abbott wrote that his order is a direct response toPresident Joe Biden’sexecutive orderissued last month, which requires all companies with workforces of over 100 to ensure that their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19, or undergo weekly testing if they do not receive the vaccine.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.Spencer Platt/Getty
“In yet another instance of federal overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas’s continued recovery from the COVID- 19 disaster,” Abbott wrote in his executive order.
The republican lawmaker noted that “COVID-19 vaccines are strongly encouraged for those eligible to receive one, but must always be voluntary for Texans.”
He echoed a similar sentiment in astatementreleased on his website Monday, which read, “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced.”
Abbott recentlytested positivefor COVID-19, announcing his results in late August. A spokesperson for the governor said at the time that Abbott had experienced a breakthrough infection after being “fully vaccinated” against the virus.
The governor has attracted national attention for his handling of the pandemic over the past year-and-a-half. In July, heissuedan executive order banning the government from requiring entities to mandate face masks, including in public school districts.
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source: people.com
