EXPLAINER: What next as high court wades into COVID mandate?

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Jan. 7 on whether the Biden administration can order that workers at private companies and health care employees be vaccinated for COVID-19. Until the court rules, millions of workers face a patchwork of requirements depending on where they live. For now the federal government is moving forward with imposing the mandates on the workers that it can. The rule with the most impact requires that employees of companies with 100 or more workers be vaccinated by Jan. 10 and meet virus testing requirements by Feb. 9. The Jan. 7 hearing is unlikely to put the mandates on hold unless the court moves unusually fast.