According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 53 percent of Americans have already been fully vaccinated, and 9 percent more have taken one shot of a two-dose regimen. Millions of the unvaccinated are young children for whom the vaccines haven’t yet been approved, and Biden said only 25 percent of the eligible population is totally unvaccinated.

For Democrats to suffer politically for the mandates, a substantial share of voters who have been vaccinated would have to punish them for it. It is more likely that voters would turn on Biden for a failure to stop the virus than for flexing executive muscle to get it under control.

“The indisputable fact is the only way to fight the virus is to get more people vaccinated,” said Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, who worked on Biden’s presidential campaign. “A significant majority of Americans are vaccinated and want those around them and their families to be vaccinated. So not only is the president responding to the science, but he’s also responding to the desire of the majority of Americans by using every lever at his disposal to get more people vaccinated.”