Texas governor Greg Abbott has issued an executive order banning vaccine mandates “by any entity” in his state.
In a move that would seek to counter institutions such as universities or private companies from requiring individuals who study or work there to require a jab, the governor claimed he believed the vaccine against Covid was “safe and effective”.
It was, he added, the state’s “best defence against the virus”.
But he said the decision or not to get vaccinated had to be voluntary “and never forced”.
The move sets up Mr Abbott for a clash with Joe Biden, who last week month called on all employers with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccines for workers or test weekly for the virus.
He also required all federal workers and contractors to get a vaccine.
“We're in a tough stretch, and it could last for a while,” Mr Biden said, as the delta variant of the coronavirus has caused deaths to rise across the country. He added: “We can and we will turn the tide on Covid-19.”
Mr Biden has said at this stage, the pandemic is a crisis of the unvaccinated, pointing to how the vast number of people dying from the virus are people who have not got a vaccine.
Many millions of Americans have still not got a jab, often people living in states controlled by Republicans.
Texas stands 29 out of 50 when the individual states are measured by the percentage of their population that has received a vaccine. Currently, just 52 per cent have received two shots of the vaccine, as recommend by the Centres for Disease Control (CDC).
Yet, it it is 9 out of 50 - just one spot behind Florida, which is also Republican-controlled - when it comes to the largest number of deaths from the virus.
“In yet another instance of federal government 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,” Mr Abbott said in his order.
In August, Mr Abbott issued an earlier order that prohibited vaccine mandates by any state government entity or entities that received public funds.
The latest one goes markedly further and sets Texas up for a show down with the federal government, something Mr Abbott may perceive as being to his political advantage.
