The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday put a temporary hold on San Antonio School District’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate hours before it was set to take effect. The San Antonio Independent School District mandated that all its employees be vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 15. The mandate, issued on Aug. 16 by then-Superintendent Pedro Martinez, directly challenged Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order initially issued in April that bans COVID-19 vaccine mandates by state-funded entities. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the school district over the order on Aug. 19. The Supreme Court said in an opinion (pdf) on Thursday it is putting a hold on the enforcement of the vaccine mandate while the legal battle over the matter continues. Paxton celebrated the court’s decision. “No local entity is above state law,” he said in a statement. “I am glad to see that the Supreme Court of Texas has again confirmed that the Governor’s …