The FDA's full approval of Pfizer's shot could make Texas' COVID-19 vaccine ban unenforceable

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates is in peril after the FDA gave full authorization to Pfizer's vaccine.
• Abbott issued an executive order in July banning vaccine mandates in the state.
• The executive order, however, is reliant upon all of the COVID-19 vaccines being under "emergency use authorization."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on coronavirus vaccine mandates took a hit on Monday after the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

Abbott issued an executive order in July prohibiting businesses, government agencies, and public schools from implementing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but with a catch: Abbott's executive order hinges upon vaccines being under "an emergency use authorization" by the FDA.

"No consumer may be denied entry to a facility financed in whole or in part by public funds for failure to provide documentation regarding the consumer's vaccination status for any COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization," the executive order says.

The FDA authorization could also be used as a loophole for school districts, counties, and local businesses to begin enforcing vaccine mandates. President Joe Biden urged business leaders on Monday to start mandating the vaccine now that it has been approved.

Abbott is not the first governor to sign executive orders banning vaccine mandates - governors in Florida, Arizona, and South Dakota issued similar orders - but Abbott's is the only one that solely relies upon the vaccine being in "emergency use authorization." Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, issued a broad executive order in March that wholly bans any implementation of a vaccine mandate, regardless of its FDA status.

Abbott and other top officials in the state have already fought against schools districts that have broken its ban on mask-mandates. Attorney General Ken Paxton has collected a list of 38 counties and school districts out of compliance with the executive order and has sued several others - and it appears that the state will be just as litigious to groups breaking the ban on vaccine mandates.

Before the FDA issued its full approval, San Antonio ISD required its employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, leading Paxton to sue the district for deliberately "violating state law." With the new FDA authorization in place and Abbott's narrowly-written executive order, however, it's unclear if Paxton's lawsuit still has standing as it also heavily relies upon Abbott's phrasing of "emergency use requirement" in his executive orders.

The state attorney general's office and governor's office did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.