MONROE - A federal judge has halted the federal government from enforcing a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

Federal Judge Terry Doughty granted the injunction, saying "the government defendants do not have the authority to implement the [vaccine] mandate," according to court documents.

The mandate would have required health care workers to have their first dose of the COIVD-19 vaccine by Dec. 6 and their second by Jan. 4. According to the lawsuit headed by Attorney General Jeff Landry, failure to get a vaccine would have resulted in the termination of the employee.