A plurality of Americans believe President Joe Biden went “too far” in trying to get Americans vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus, a CBS News/YouGov survey found.
The survey asked respondents to reveal their thoughts on Biden’s efforts to get Americans vaccinated. A plurality, 40 percent, said he went “too far,” while 34 percent said he “handled it about right,” and 26 percent said he did not go “far enough.”
Opinions are sharply divided along party lines, as 74 percent of Republicans said Biden went “too far. A plurality of independents, 41 percent, held the same sentiment, although 54 percent of Democrats said he “handled it about right.” Nearly one-third of Democrats, however, said he had “not gone far enough.”
The survey, taken January 12-14, 2022, among 2,095 U.S. adults, has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percent.
It comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 blow against Biden’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine mandate, which would have affected roughly 84 million workers. Biden announced the rule in September 2021 during a divisive speech on the coronavirus in which he scolded unvaccinated Americans, warning that his patience was “wearing thin.”
Under the rule, employers with 100 or more employees would have been required to mandate coronavirus vaccines or implement rigorous testing requirements. Under the OSHA rule, the burden of the cost of testing would have been on the employee, amounting to what some had described as a work tax.
While Biden expressed disappointment in the ruling last week, he called on business leaders to “immediately join those who have already stepped up – including one third of Fortune 100 companies – and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities.”
The Court, however, upheld the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate on healthcare workers, 5-4, as Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s three Democrat appointees. However, the SCOTUS decision makes it clear that the CMS mandate requires exemptions for individuals with religious objections or medical issues.
This image provided by the U.S. Supreme Court shows Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, left, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. (Fred Schilling/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP).
The applications are NFIB v. OSHA, No. 21A244, at the Supreme Court of the United States, and Biden v. Missouri, No. 21A240, at the Supreme Court of the United States.