(Adds quote from Abbott's executive order)By Dan WhitcombOct 11 (Reuters) - Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, responding to what he called "bullying" by the Biden Administration, on Monday barred all COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the state by any entity, including private employers. "In another instance of federal overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas' continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster," Abbott said in an executive order. Political leaders across the United States have ratcheted up pressure on the unvaccinated in recent weeks. Laws requiring proof of vaccinations are deeply controversial in the United States, with many Americans criticizing them as unconstitutional and authoritarian. Proponents of vaccine mandates see them as necessary to pull the nation out of the nearly two-year pandemic and return to normalcy.
