Laredo using vaccine tourism to lure business from Mexico

 Washington Examiner:

A Texas border city hopes to stimulate its hurting economy through “vaccine tourism,” an initiative that allows Mexican citizens to fly in, get their coronavirus vaccine, and potentially spend big money at local businesses. Just three weeks in, local leaders are already deeming it a big success.

The project rolled out as a way to help small businesses in downtown Laredo that have been hurting amid the coronavirus pandemic, more so than other businesses in the United States. At the start of the pandemic, U.S. border officials shut down all crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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The vaccine tourism project launched in mid-May after the Texas attorney general's office approved the idea. Since then, the flights to Laredo have been around 70%-80% full, according to Miller. Three round-trip flights come in and go out every week, bringing in about 800 people. Miller estimated as many as 600 of the passengers are getting vaccinated while in Laredo. However, health laws forbid the airport or city from collecting that information, so there is no official number.

“The planes are just full of people coming in from Mexico,” Cuellar said. “That's a win-win for our local community. ... That helps, of course, the local economy, and that helps, of course, the local taxes, sales taxes that are collected.”

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Cuellar has been one of the few Democrats who have seen the problem with Biden's border policies and he now sees vaccine tourism as a way to help the local economy.  Texas has long benefited from Mexican consumers flying in on shopping trips.