Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday issued an executive order banning any state or local mandate that requires vaccination of people against COVID-19, and called on Texas lawmakers to vote on the law during its current special session.
The move came when Texas reported patients with more COVID-19 in its hospitals since the pandemic began.
Abbott issued his ban in an executive order to fill a gap left by the full authorization of the Pfizer vaccine. It had previously banned the requirement for vaccinations under emergency use permits. It has also banned mandates from state and local government to wear masks.
“Legislation has historically determined vaccine requirements and exemptions, and their involvement is particularly important in avoiding a mosaic of vaccine mandates across Texas,” Abbott said on the governor’s office website.
Nine counties, dozens of school districts and the city of El Paso have defied the Abbott mask mandate ban, and some of the most populous counties in the state have applied for court orders to overturn or block the application of the ban. On Wednesday, Dallas County became the last to get a court order application lock.
“While this is a major victory, it’s not really a victory against a person or entity,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county’s top elected official, told a news conference. “It’s a victory for humans living in Dallas County against the virus.”
A new wave of COVID-19 cases has been sweeping the state, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, which sparked the wave of defiance of the Abbott order.
The Texas Supreme Court has declined blocking restraining orders against the Abbott mask warrant ban. In addition, the Texas Education Agency has, for now, suspended execution of the ban on the mandate of the mask in the public school systems of the state.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 79% of Texas ’85,874 intensive care beds are full, approximately 30% of them with COVID-19 cases. Global hospitalizations for COVID-19 were a record 14,255 on Wednesday, surpassing the January 11 record of 14,218 reported by the Texas State Department of Health Services.