As banks and other employers decide whether to mandate vaccination of their employees, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, for individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine continues to be available under emergency use authorization for individuals 12 through 15 years old and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.
Although not binding on courts, the Department of Justice issued a legal opinion in July that concluded that federal law “does not prohibit public or private entities from imposing vaccination requirements, even when the only vaccines available are those authorized under [emergency use authorization].”