Big Businesses in Texas Are Ignoring Gov. Abbott’s Vaccine Mandate Ban

Southwest Airlines, which is headquartered in Dallas, is among the businesses that have said they will continue to require vaccination, telling TIME they feel the federal action “supersedes” state laws. Kevin Dietsch—Getty Images

On Oct. 11, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott—who has opposed masking but came under fire from a Republican political rival recently for allegedly failing to push back hard enough on federal vaccine mandates—took a strong stand against vaccine mandates, issuing an executive order banning any “entity” in Texas from mandating vaccination for people who object to the vaccine for any reason, including “personal conscience.”

Deciding between following federal guidance and the state executive order, representatives for high-profile businesses based in Texas told TIME that they feel that federal law as well as employees and customers’ safety supersedes Abbott’s rule. And those that already required employees to be vaccinated have no intention of changing course.

Source: Time

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