Barrasso and Lummis Back Bill to Halt Federal Vaccine Mandate

Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis have drawn their line in the sand when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine. Both Senators have voted against the federal vaccine mandate, that would require private companies with more than 100 employees to require the vaccine.

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In fact, the Senate as a whole voted to block the vaccine mandate though, according to NPR, "the vote is largely symbolic. It seems unlikely that Democratic leaders in the House will take up the measure, and the White House has said President Biden will veto it if it reaches his desk."

Still, every Republican in the Senate, as well as two Democrats, voted to block the bill.

Senators Barrasso and Lummis were among those who voted to block it.

":Today the Senate rejected President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate," Barrasso wrote on his social media page. "This was a strong, bipartisan vote. The president’s unconstitutional mandate on private businesses is government overreach at its worst. It turns employers into the vaccine police.

"As a doctor, I know vaccines are safe and they work. We need more people to choose to get vaccinated. This mandate has had the opposite effect. The people of Wyoming shouldn’t be forced to choose between their job and their personal health care decisions."

Lummis, likewise, noted that while she is vaccinated, she does not support a federal overreach.

"I’m vaccinated, and people across Wyoming should talk to their doctors about getting vaccinated, but that conversation should NOT include the government," Lummis wrote on her own social media pages. "I will keep fighting for the rights of people in Wyoming to make their own medical decisions."

While the move is mostly symbolic, it does let the Biden Administration know exactly where Senate Republicans (and a could Democrats) stand. Unfortunately for those Republicans, if and when the bill comes across President Biden's desk, that is where it will die, according to White House Press Secretary Psaki.

“If it comes to the president’s desk, he will veto it,” Psaki said. “Our view and the view of many Americans is that if people aren’t vaccinated, having them test once a week is quite reasonable as we’re thinking about how to protect our workplaces, how to protect stores and retail locations as people are out shopping for Christmas and the holidays, how to protect schools and public places. And we also know that more than 100 leading public health experts have endorsed this rule."

Answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

Vaccinations for COVID-19 began being administered in the U.S. on Dec. 14, 2020. The quick rollout came a little more than a year after the virus was first identified in November 2019. The impressive speed with which vaccines were developed has also left a lot of people with a lot of questions. The questions range from the practical—how will I get vaccinated?—to the scientific—how do these vaccines even work?

Keep reading to discover answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions.