Political | Process

Updated polling from Morning Consult shows that approval of mandatory vaccinations sank to all-time lows during the week ending Feb. 6.

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• While half of the public supports the mandates set by businesses, down from a high of 61% in September, only slightly more, 53%, support mandates in schools.

• That is down from a high of 66% in August. Public support for President Joe Biden’s embattled federal mandates hit 54%, down from its high of 66% in September.

• The fight over Biden’s mandate that large, private businesses require their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine or be subjected to weekly testing has calmed since the Supreme Court blocked it on Jan. 13.

• The mandate for businesses, which would have been enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, sparked a fierce debate between Democrats and Republicans over the president’s authority to force people to get shots.

• The conservative majority on the court ruled 6-3 against the mandate, arguing that Biden “lacked authority to impose the mandate.”

• The court did, however, uphold the administration’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers whose employers receive funding from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

• School vaccine mandates are a similarly treacherous issue, with 17 states dominated by Republicans passing legislation that explicitly bans mandates in schools.

• Meanwhile, only California and Louisiana, as well as the District of Columbia, have instituted far-reaching mandates for students.

• California’s mandate will go into effect at the start of the next school year and apply to all K-12 students, while Louisiana’s gives parents the option to exempt their children if they can get a written objection from a medical provider.

SOURCE: WASHINGTONEXAMINER