COVID Confusion: Texas Governor Issues Executive Order Effectively Banning Vaccine Mandates

Sheppard Mullin – In a move sure to generate controversy, confusion, and litigation, on October 11, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order effectively prohibiting all private businesses from requiring employees or customers be vaccinated against COVID-19. Executive Order GA-40 states that no “entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employee or…consumer, who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.” Previously—and also via an executive order—only Texas public/government agencies and school districts were prohibited from implementing vaccine mandates.