RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A federal judge blocked the federal government from mandating vaccines in health care facilities in Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

“What it means certainly for 17 million health care workers is they don’t, they are not at risk losing their jobs right now because of this vaccine mandate,” said Dan Bowling, a professor at Duke Law School.

He pointed to one key factor in the judge’s decision.

“These were hastily drawn up mandates by agencies within the executive branch, not the legislative branch, with fairly limited authority on how far they reach in the private sector.”

Bowling said the judge’s decision could potentially have big impacts down the road.

“Here’s what I predict: it’s a practical matter. I think states and companies, or health care organizations, that don’t want to implement the mandates aren’t going to implement them at this time.”

Gov. Roy Cooper, says the state will continue to encourage vaccinations.

“Our state-owned health care facilities, we require vaccinations for those health care workers, and more than 99 percent of them got vaccinated,” Cooper said. “I think we need to continue to increase (the) number of employees who get vaccinated. We’ve encouraged employers who require their employees to get vaccinated. We’re going to continue to make that a top effort in our stats.”

Cooper said state-owned health care facilities require vaccinations for health care works. More than 99 percent of them have gotten vaccinated.