I’m also opposed to this government mandate, as you can see from a couple of my comments above. Nonetheless, what has actually worked really well in the past is … government mandates. Government mandates have eradicated smallpox and mostly eliminated measles, mumps, rubella, and whooping cough.
I agree that the pushback isn’t good. And it’s partly because there’s so much pushback that I don’t think a government mandate – a tried and true tool that has worked really well in the past – is likely to be a good idea.
I also think this particular mandate (make employers do it) is government over-reach. I am much more comfortable with mandates to go to school, mandates to enter a library, or mandates that cover “large gatherings” (which might include some workplaces, but would mostly apply to things like stadiums and amusement parks) than with mandates that are aimed at employers.
But you are right that what we are doing isn’t working. So maybe it’s time to try mandates? I wish we’d tried incentives between “recommending” and “mandating”, including incentives to employers who give generous time off for hourly employees who might have side effects after vaccination. But a lot of states are running out of space in their intensive care units, so maybe it IS time to bring out the big guns?