(Radio Iowa) – A federal judge in Missouri has temporarily blocked a federal agency’s Covid vaccine mandate for most health care workers in Iowa and nine other states. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued the requirement that U.S. health care facilities ensure staff are fully vaccinated by January 4th. Hospitals, clinics and nursing homes that failed to do so were at risk of losing the federal funding that pays the bills for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds joined a lawsuit challenging the requirement earlier this month. Reynolds says the vaccination mandate would make workforce shortages worse and was an attack on individual liberties. The judge says the vaccination rule has vast economic and political significance and should have been approved by congress.

In a statement Monday afternoon, the Governor said “Iowa is fighting back against the Biden Administration’s attack on individual liberties and I applaud the court’s decision to enjoin the vaccine mandate rule for Medicare and Medicaid certified providers and suppliers.  Medical providers that have been on the frontlines of this pandemic saving lives deserve the freedom and ability to make their own informed health care decisions.

“I believe the vaccine is the best defense against COVID-19, but I also firmly believe in Iowans’ right to make health care decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families, and I remain committed to protecting those freedoms. President Biden should do the same.”