So we are left with millions of Americans for whom vaccination is a close call, and millions of others who don’t understand why they need vaccinated immunity when they already have natural immunity. These people no longer trust what the government says, for the very good reason that the government has not in fact been trustworthy.

President Biden may not really have meant it when he said that he was losing patience with this part of our vast and diverse American public, but I am fairly certain that they are losing patience with him.

Most eligible Americans have already been vaccinated, either because they really wanted the vaccine or because they didn’t care enough one way or the other to resist the pressure from those at the commanding heights of the culture. But the minority who are holding out obviously do care. Whether their reasons are good or bad, the fact that they have resisted for this long strongly suggests that many of them have the inclination and ability to stand their ground.

If that is true, the mandates and coercion may produce a lot fewer vaccinations than the government wants, and a lot more trouble than it has bargained for. The people with whom the president has lost patience perform some mighty essential services for the rest of us, and the economy, including the health sector, is already desperately short of workers. Antagonizing a large segment of those who remain might not turn out to be the smartest thing in the world.