Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bans 'any entity' from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates

(Image credit: Sergio Flores/AFP/Getty Images)

published 12 October 2021

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Monday issued an executive order prohibiting all entities in Texas — including private businesses — from imposing COVID-19 vaccination mandates for employees and customers.

He tweeted that the coronavirus vaccine is "safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should always remain voluntary and never forced." He accused the Biden administration of "bullying" private companies into having vaccine mandates, saying such rules could cause "workforce disruptions that threaten Texas' continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster."

In an earlier executive order, Abbott banned COVID-19 vaccine requirements by government agencies, school districts, cities, and counties. Texas public schools do have vaccination requirements in place for K-12 students, including tetanus, polio, chickenpox, meningitis, hepatitis A, measles, and mumps and rubella. About 52 percent of Texans are vaccinated against COVID-19, including Abbott, who went on television to receive his shot.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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