Worried but not giving up, President Joe Biden is anxiously pushing for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 after the Supreme Court suspended the administration’s sweeping vaccination or testing program for large employers.

With hospitals overwhelmed and record numbers of people infected with the omicron variant, the government wants states and companies to hand down their own vaccination or testing requirements. If the president’s “bully pulpit” remains persuasive, Biden intends to use it.

While some in the business community cheered the failure of the mission, Biden insisted that the administration’s efforts were not in vain. Thursday’s ruling by the high court “doesn’t stop me as president from using my voice to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect the health and economy of Americans,” he said.

The court’s conservative majority all but rejected OSHA’s request that employers with 100 or more employees require their workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or tested weekly. However, it does retain the vaccination requirements for healthcare workers.

Meanwhile, the White House announced Friday that the federal website where Americans can apply for free COVID-19 tests will begin taking orders next Wednesday. The tests could provide incentives for some to seek vaccinations, which the government is seeking to address a nationwide shortage of vaccines. Only four free tests are available per family.

Website to order free COVID tests from federal government to launch next week

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that OSHA appeared to have overstepped Congress’ power to enforce occupational standards, saying “while COVID-19 is a risk in many workplaces, it is not an occupational hazard in most workplaces.”

The mandate, announced last September, came with Biden’s harsh criticism of the roughly 80 million unvaccinated U.S. adults.

“We’ve been very patient. But our patience is fading and your refusal has cost us all,” he said. The unvaccinated minority “would do a lot of damage, and it did,” he said.

In a statement following the Supreme Court ruling, Biden expressed disappointment with the results but said the mandates had already had the desired effect in reducing the number of unvaccinated adults.

“Today, that number has dropped below 35 million,” he said of the unvaccinated. “If my administration had not instituted vaccination requirements, we would now experience higher COVID-19 deaths and even more hospitalizations.”

While the court has opened up the possibility for the U.S. to seek a more targeted authorization, White House officials said there are no current plans to seek a redo of the statute.

“It’s now up to states and individual employers to set vaccination requirements,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.

Lawrence Gostin, an expert in public health law at Georgetown University, said the U.S. is already “in trouble,” with a vaccination rate of 60 percent, near the lowest point among peer countries.

“The OSHA rule is really the president’s last best chance to significantly increase vaccination rates,” Gostin said. But the court “in a very partisan fashion, deliberately tried to handcuff the president and let him do what he needs to do.”‘

Many large businesses that already have vaccination or testing requirements say they have no plans to change course. But smaller companies said they were relieved they were worried about worker shortages if the OSHA rules were allowed to take effect.

Kyle Caraway, director of marketing for Doolittle Trailer Manufacturing, which joined the Missouri attorney general’s lawsuit over Biden’s policies, said the Supreme Court’s ruling “alleviates a bit of our concern.” About 90 percent of the 175 employees at the Missouri-based Holz Summit said they would refuse to comply with vaccination requirements, he said.

“It was clear to us that if the vaccine authorization were to go into effect, our team would be drastically reduced overnight,” said Callaway, who identified himself as one of those opposed to Biden’s policies. Stopping production could force the company to “consider closing,” he said.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 2 million workers, said the court’s decision was a relief for healthcare workers, but others were left without critical protections.

“In blocking large employers’ rules on vaccines or testing, courts have put millions of other essential workers at further risk, capitulating to companies trying to permanently rig the rules against workers,” the union said.

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The union is calling on Congress and states to pass laws requiring vaccinations, masks and paid sick leave. Workers also need better access to testing and protective equipment, unions say.

The new debate over the vaccination mandate comes as a record number of Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19, the country is averaging nearly 800,000 new cases and 1,700 deaths a day, and resistance to vaccines remains an issue, especially in Very conservative states like Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming and Idaho have less than half their populations fully vaccinated.

Hospitals across the country are facing chronic staffing shortages and are being bombarded with people showing up to emergency rooms in need of testing for the virus. The National Guard has been activated in dozens of states, helping at medical centers, nursing homes and testing sites.

A hospital on the edge of the Kansas City area had to borrow ventilators from Missouri’s stockpile and find more high-flow oxygen machines, and Kansas’ largest county said Friday that it was running out of mortuary space again.

Gostin predicted that the court’s action would have serious implications for other federal agencies’ efforts to protect public health, as it ruled that OSHA could not regulate things that would have huge economic impact without explicit authorization from Congress. States will not be able to make up for the impact of the ruling, he said.

“If COVID has taught us anything, it’s to tell us that states can’t deal with big, bold problems to stop the spread of pathogens from Florida to New York,” he said. “These are national problems that need federal solutions.”

Psaki said the White House would work with businesses to tout the benefits of vaccination or testing requirements, and Biden would highlight successful programs.

“The court has ruled that my administration cannot use the powers Congress has given it to demand this measure,” Biden said. Therefore, “I am calling on business leaders to immediately join those companies that have stepped up their actions — including three of the Fortune 100. 1 in 10 – and develop vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers and communities.”