Republicans (on both the state and federal levels) are opposing both masks and vaccinations being mandatory. They claim that making these mandatory is a violation of an individual's constitutional rights.
What they are not telling you is that this is an issue that has already been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1905 (Jacobson vs. Massachusetts), they ruled that the state had the power to "enact a compulsory vaccination law", and that did not violate the individual's rights. The state has the right to do that because it has the responsibility to ensure the Public's health.
In other words, the right of the government to mandate vaccinations has been the law for over 100 years in the United States. The 1905 case was about smallpox vaccinations, but the law should equally apply to COVID-19 vaccinations (especially since the virus has claimed over three-quarters of a million lives in this country).
Add to this the fact that all of those same Republicans had to be vaccinated before they entered school in their youth, and the same is true for their children and grandchildren. But they aren't opposing those vaccination mandates (which have been in effect for many years). It's just the COVID-19 vaccinations that they oppose being mandated. Why?
One has to wonder if they don't care about American lives. The virus is now striking mainly among the unvaccinated, and almost all deaths from the virus are among the unvaccinated. This is obviously a public health problem -- a problem that can be solved through vaccinations.
The answer is that their stance on mandating vaccinations is purely political. They don't care about the lives that will be lost due to their lies about the vaccine, as long as they think they can benefit politically.
They don't want the pandemic to end. If it ends because of the population being vaccinated, they think President Biden will get the credit. But if it doesn't end, they think Biden will be blamed for the continuing pandemic. And if the public blames Biden, then that would be good for the Republicans in next year's elections.
They will likely succeed in causing the pandemic to continue, since a significant portion of their base believe their lies about the vaccine (and its constitutionality). Hopefully though, the public will be smart enough to know the pandemic's continuation is not the fault of President Biden (or the Democrats). It will rest solely with those who opposed the vaccinations (and wearing of masks) -- the Republicans!
