Earlier today, RedState reported on the firing of a nurse for refusing to bend to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Despite data that shows the vaccinated spread the virus at the same rate, first responders are being fired or laid off around the country in an ill-informed attempt to “protect” the vaccinated from the unvaccinated. That’s been the line from the federal government as well.

For most of this battle, those who support vaccine mandates have been able to claim that the public is behind them. But that appears to not be true anymore. A new poll from NBC News shows that a majority are now opposed to vaccine mandates.

Vax mandate politics shifting, per NBC poll:

"Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose requiring that everyone who is now eligible must get a COVID-19 vaccine?"

Favor 47% (34% strongly)
Oppose 50% (41% strongly)https://t.co/uZvIPVcI3H

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) November 1, 2021

You can bet that the reports of nurses, firefighters, and police officers being sent home are fueling this. These are workers that have been exposed to COVID-19 from the beginning, with many of them having highly effective natural immunity. Now, for no scientific reason whatsoever, they are being cast aside by the very people who lauded them as heroes early on in the pandemic. There’s something really gross about that, especially given the fact that they aren’t putting others at any more risk than a vaccinated person. You can bet that this shift in public opinion is directly connected to those stories being told.

There is simply no reason to punish the largely underpaid Americans who work long hours to help others with a mandate that makes no sense in the first place. How many people are going to die now due to staffing shortages in hospitals and on the streets of high-crime areas? There are reports of dozens of firehouses closing in New York City due to the mandates. And for what? To make some virtue-signaling politicians feel powerful? This entire thing is a disgrace.

Look, if someone wants to get the vaccine, I’m all for that. I’m not anti-vaccine. But it should be a personal choice. That’s even more true now given we have data showing that vaccine mandates do not protect others from contracting the virus. Not to mention those first responders have almost universal access to N95 masks. Do masks not work now? If they don’t, then what’s the point of mandates on that side of things?

Nothing makes sense because it’s not meant to make sense. This entire thing is about exerting tyrannical authority over people. That so many are standing up to say enough is heartening, and the fact that the public are now shifting in their favor is as well.