Business leaders who were scrambling to survey employees on their vaccination status and line up scarce testing resources breathed a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court overturned the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large private employers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The relief was short-lived. The surging Omicron variant has renewed the debate over how long the coronavirus pandemic will adversely affect companies in a range of industries. As news of the Jan. 13 Supreme Court ruling receded, businesses turned to grapple with a new set of challenges around how to keep their employees safe and productive. The Supreme Court ruling has given way to a new reality: Without a consistent set of rules on COVID-19, businesses will now have to fend for themselves, navigating an increasingly complex and often contradictory patchwork of federal, state and local regulations and guidelines on vaccines, testing and other safety measures. U.S. companies have reacted in disparate ways to the Supreme Court ruling. Some companies and business associations have expressed disappointment over the ruling, while others say they prefer having flexibility to tailor their approach to their workforces.
