Is it legal to require vaccinations to travel? Yes, say experts
Vaccine mandates trickled into the U.S. travel sphere last winter, picked up steam in the spring and hit fever pitch over the summer.
Vaccine shots are now necessary to eat in cafes in France, to see a Broadway show in New York City and soon, to fly commercially in Canada.
Though mandates were expected for cruises and international travel, the pace and scope of activities that they now cover — from booking group tours to staying in hotels — has surprised industry experts.
“It has been interesting to watch the striking acceleration of vaccine mandates,” said Harry Nelson, founder of health-care law firm Nelson Hardiman.
He said that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last month has prompted some mandates, they’re also being “driven by increasingly supportive public opinion of the vaccinated majority.”
Are vaccine mandates legal?
Yes, said Lawrence O. Gostin, professor at Georgetown Law and the faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.
“Businesses have full power to require reasonable safety standards for customers,” he told CNBC. “Just as many businesses have required masking, they could also ask for proof of vaccination.”
That’s true whether mandates come from private businesses or government-owned attractions, such as the Grand Canyon or tours at the White House, he said.
We felt strongly that it was the right thing to do, and sometimes doing the right thing is hard.
Kelly Sanders
senior vice president of operations, Highgate Hawaii
“For some high-risk businesses, such as cruise lines and hotels, it is very much in their economic interests to make their customers feel safe and secure — they have every right to do so,” said Gostin. “Similarly, President Biden, who oversees federal properties, could require proof of vaccination for entry to… national parks and federal buildings.”
Nelson agrees, adding that there is a long history of courts upholding vaccine mandates, though those have mostly been in the context of school requirements.
“I expect that, for the most part, the vaccine mandates will stand up,” he said.
Vaccine exemptions
The next great debate could be the diluting effect that vaccine exemptions may have on vaccine mandates.
Gostin said public and private companies “probably have to allow both medical and religious exemptions” but they can be “narrow and hard to get.”
United Airlines seems to be taking that approach. Staff granted religious exemptions to the airline’s recently-announced workforce vaccine mandate will be placed on temporary unpaid leave starting next month.
Unvaccinated tourists who travel to New York City can walk down the streets near Broadway, but they can’t attend shows without an exemption.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The government has an “easy case” to refuse religious exemptions for vaccines against infectious disease, wrote Douglas Laycock, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law,…
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