COVID-19 vaccine mandates work to help people get more vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Monday that the U.S. government wants people to get vaccinated by their own choice. However, some people need a little encouragement to get there.
- “We’ve obviously been trying very hard,” Fauci said. “We try to get trusted messengers out there and try and get this away from being an ideological or political statement, get back into the realm of pure public health, and try to convince people.”
- “So, although you’d like people to do it on their own accord, sometimes mandates actually can help in that regard — as sensitive an issue as that is, it is really getting people more vaccinated,” Fauci added.
Fauci told CNN that there will be less chance of another coronavirus surge if the unvaccinated get vaccinated, stopping the coronavirus in its tracks.
But not everyone is in love with vaccine mandates. Earlier in October, hundreds of unmasked, anti-vaccine mandate Utahns packed a hearing on Utah’s Capitol Hill, telling lawmakers to stop President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements for large employers, according to the Deseret News.
- People in the crowd called the mandate a sign of “tyranny” and “federal overreach,” per the Deseret News.
- “I have until the end of November to be fully vaccinated, prove it or lose my job,” said Christine Lewis, of North Ogden. “If I lose my job, there’s a good chance my husband and I will lose our home.”
That said, experts have maintained that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the best way to stay safe from the virus and slow the spread. The coronavirus vaccine can also ward off coronavirus variants, according to recent research, which means deadlier pandemics might be stopped before they happen.