Poll Shows the Majority of Texans Support Vaccine Mandates

In response to the increasing wave of COVID-19 cases across the country, mainly due to the aggressiveness of the delta variant, President Joe Biden and the CDC announced new health guidelines a few days ago.

The new measures include requiring federal workers to vaccinate and sign a form to attest they were immunized, as well as establishing mask mandates for K-12 schools and indoor public spaces.

GOP governors who have been vocal against vaccine mandates, such as Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas -the two states with the highest COVID-19 deaths- opposed the President’s new guidelines and issued executive orders to prohibit authorities from requiring citizens to wear masks.  

However, a new national poll carried out by researchers at Northeastern University, Harvard University, Rutgers University, and Northwestern University has shown that most Texans support the measures issued by President Biden.

The study conducted by the COVID States Project revealed that more than 65 percent of Texans would support vaccine mandates issued by federal, state, or local governments, more than 70 percent of Texans would support vaccine requirements to board an airplane; more than 62 percent would support vaccine mandates for children returning to schools, and 67 percent would support them for students returning to universities.

According to the Houston Chronicle, democrats resulted twice as likely as Republicans to support mandates — 84 percent to 45 percent — although support among both groups has ticked upward since a previous survey this spring.

From the 707 Texans who were interviewed, the majority seem to support government-implemented measures to fight the pandemic.Additionally, the study also showed that nationwide support for government vaccine mandates is high and increasing, with 62% of the respondents expressing support towards the proposition of federal, state, or local governments requiring everyone to get a COVID-19 vaccine.