Vaccine mandates for travel are legal in the US — and more are probably coming

Vaccine mandates trickled into the US 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 US FDA’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.”<br/>