Story at a glance
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order Monday .
- The order prohibits private businesses and any other entity from enacting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on its workers.
- The order opposes President Biden’s mandate that companies with 100 or more employees must be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced he signed an executive order Monday that prohibits private businesses and any other entity in the state from enacting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on its workers.
“No entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employee or a consumer,” Abbott wrote, “who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”
The order comes just over a month after President Biden announced a COVID-19 plan on Sept. 9 mandating that all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated and employees at companies with 100 or more employees must be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.
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“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus,” Abbott in a press release, “but should remain voluntary and never forced.”
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 72.54 percent of the population 12 and older are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, though the last two months have seen increases in coronavirus fatalities, with fatality data past Sept. 27 not yet complete.
On Tuesday, Texas reported 2,143 new COVID-19 cases and two new fatalities.
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