Halt to Jab Mandate Gives Hospitals Breather—But Just a Bit

Hospitals caught a break when the Biden administration’s order to vaccinate health-care staff was put on hold—but not enough to offset severe worries over staffing levels and rationing patient care.

A federal vaccine mandate for health-care workers threatened facilities that couldn’t afford to lose even one worker with the prospect that people would quit rather than succumb to a jab order.

Hospitals—already struggling with staff lost to sickness, burnout, and early retirement due to the Covid-19 pandemic—were days away from needing to meet Monday’s deadline for workers to get their first vaccination doses when two federal judges halted the requirement ...