The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic.
The ruling from the New Orleans-based United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit comes on Saturday after numerous Republican-led states filed legal challenges against the new rule, which is set to take effect on January 4. In a statement, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said the Labor Department was "confident in its legal authority" to issue the rule, which will be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration .
The stay comes two days after the Biden administration unveiled the rule, which was immediately met with vows of legal action from Republican governors and others, who argued it overstepped the administration's legal authority.The action on the private-sector vaccinations was taken under OSHA's emergency authority over workplace safety, officials said. The rule applies to 84.2 million workers at 1.9 million private-sector employers, according to OSHA.