Vaccine Mandate Stayed; Why Not Target Flyers

WASHINGTON - Nov. 6, 2021 - PRLog -- A federal appeals court has just stayed Joe Biden's new vaccine mandate for private companies.

Since this halts Biden's most potent mechanism for persuading people to be vaccinated, this would be an ideal time for him to announce what is probably inevitable, and which some of his Covid advisors have already endorsed - requiring passengers desiring to fly,= to have at least one shot.

That's a  proposal by public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who suggests that such a transportation rule - which could be adopted quickly, and would be less subject to legal challenges - would likely persuade millions to give up their objection to a Covid vaccination, just as his success in getting smoking bans on airplanes persuaded millions of diehard smokers to give up their objection to quitting.

As Banzhaf recently noted, the announcement that the U.S. is eliminating travel bans on visitors from foreign countries, but will require these flyers to be vaccinated, suggests that vaccination may also soon be required of U.S. citizens who fly to or from the U.S., and possibly even on domestic flights, says Banzhaf, whose earlier suggestions to President Joe Biden's Covid advisors are now in effect.

This is very likely to occur because proof of vaccination will soon be a de facto requirement for international flights as other countries respond, and Canada has already adopted such a requirement, says Banzhaf, who proposed this tactic to the President's COVID advisors weeks ago - along with suggestions for using his executive authority over grants, and to require vaccination of federal workers, both of which have now occurred.

However, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy did not endorse the proposal now under active consideration by Biden's Covid advisors because of concerns for "people, for example, if they have to travel in the case of emergency to see a relative who got sick."

But Murthy may fail to appreciate that the same problem would occur if, in an "emergency," a flyer lost or misplaced his driver's license (including, soon, one with REAL-ID), and thus might not be able to board a flight to a foreign or even domestic destination.

Moreover, unlike with a driver's license, an unvaccinated person suddenly needing to fly in an emergency can probably receive at least one shot with a wait of no more than an hour or two.

If the emergency involved travel abroad, many Americans may not have an up-to-date passport, and in any event would have to very quickly arrange a COVID test in order to fly, says Banzhaf, noting that a vaccine requirement to fly might even provide for exceptions for true emergency situations.

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