The national poll produced by the Trafalgar Group in conjunction with the Convention of States Action demonstrates an overwhelming rejection of vaccine mandates. Conducted between July 12 and 13 with 1,077 respondents, 71.4 percent said that taking a COVID vaccine should be a matter of choice.
Trafalgar revealed that those who voted -- Democrat and Republican alike -- both lean against vaccine mandates. Out of these numbers, 58.7 percent of Democrats favored personal choice, while 87.3 percent of Republican voters rejected vaccine requirements altogether.
About 33 percent of Democrat voters said they would see vaccines mandated, but only 7.2 percent of Republicans shared the same view. Around 67.2 percent of those who stated no party affiliation voted in favor of the freedom to choose to be vaccinated, while 62.5 percent said that they should be mandatory. The rest remain unsure of where they fall on the issue.
President of Convention of States Action Mark Meckler said that the results reveal that hundreds of millions of social media messages, the constant stream of propaganda for the press, paid TV and radio ad campaigns, and daily hammering from the Biden Administration officials and cajoling from influencers and celebrities on communication platforms are backfiring.
Meckler said, "Americans have never taken kindly to being told what to do, and they are not going to start now. After being told 'my body, my choice' for nearly five decades by the same crowd now hypocritically pushing mandates, is it any wonder the public isn’t on board?"
President Joe Biden announced a sweeping vaccine mandate in July, ordering government agencies and private businesses with over 100 employees to require COVID-19 vaccination of their staff or face penalties. (Related: NYC restaurants REFUSE to enforce vaccine passport mandate and become "vaccination police.")
However, the majority of Americans do not believe that the president holds this power. Of those polled regarding this issue, 27 percent of Democrats and 83.5 percent of Republicans believe that Biden does not hold the constitutional authority to force private businesses to require vaccination mandates for employees.
Those with no party affiliations also voted strongly against the notion of the president imposing authority regarding vaccine mandates on businesses, with 68.2 percent saying that he is constitutionally unable to push such mandate.
Many Republican state governors and attorneys general voiced their opposition to the president's edict following his announcement, declaring the move to be unconstitutional and a power-grab.
The president took aim at those still resisting the vaccine. He told tens of millions of Americans who refused to get the COVID-19 shots, "We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us," he said
Taken together, the policies and Biden's speech represent the most aggressive steps to prod Americans to get shots as the fast-spreading Delta variant sparks a new wave of sickness.
This surge posed an increased risk to the health of Americans, but it also dampened Biden's approval ratings since he promised to get control of the pandemic in July. Further, Biden's latest moves may be subjected to political and legal challenges.
Infectious disease and health policy experts noted that the mandates are unlikely to change infection rates quickly, and critics said that the Biden Administration has not done enough testing during its time in the office.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has killed over 654,000 people in the United States alone. Deaths and hospitalizations have also risen sharply as the transmissible delta variant continues to spread.
Learn more about COVID-related mandates and policies at Pandemic.news.
Sources include: