LINCOLN, Neb. -- On Monday morning, a U.S. District Judge in the Eastern District of Missouri issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily halting the Biden administration from enforcing its vaccine mandate on healthcare workers.

Nebraska was part of a coalition of 10 states that filed a lawsuit seeking a stop to the mandate.

There are four separate challenges against the mandate, with more than half of the states involved in at least one of them.

“This is significant for healthcare workers in Nebraska, especially rural hospitals who were facing serious impacts due to this mandate,” said Attorney General Doug Peterson on Monday. “Today’s ruling immediately prevents enforcement of the mandate. While we do anticipate the federal government will seek immediate review by the Eighth Circuit, we are confident that the analysis by the trial court will be confirmed.”