More contemporaneously, people cite vaccine mandates in public schools, which have been common for decades. Again, this is nowhere near the same. Public schools, which are governed at the state and local level, mandate that students receive certain vaccinations as a condition of enrollment, with a few exceptions depending on the area (such as for medical or religious reasons). The public-school mandates do not apply outside of school. They do not prevent people from holding jobs or entering a wide range of public spaces.

It’s also worth noting that public-school mandates have typically involved vaccines such as MMR (against measles, mumps, and rubella), which offers lifetime protection. The current Covid vaccines have shown waning efficacy after a few months. Israel, which has been a leading indicator so far, has begun giving out a fourth dose to those in their 60s. Meanwhile, the CDC has shifted away from describing people as “fully vaccinated” if they received two doses and instead is using the term “up to date,” which includes those with a booster. The agency’s recently updated isolation guidance lumps together those who have received two doses of an mRNA vaccine with the unvaccinated.