The Biden administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to pause two federal court injunctions blocking its vaccine mandate for health care workers while the government pursues appeals.

In two emergency applications filed simultaneously Thursday evening, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that the vaccine requirement, which includes medical and religious exemptions, “falls squarely within the plain text of the secretary’s statutory authority and complies with all procedural requirements. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a more paradigmatic health and safety condition than a requirement that workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities take the step that most effectively prevents transmission of a deadly virus to vulnerable patients.”