--- title: For the U.S. to Reach Herd Immunity We Need Vaccine Mandates description: New data reveals that the U.S. can't vaccinate enough people with incentives alone. It needs mandates to get people jabbed. canonical: https://time.com/6079553/vaccine-mandates-will-help-the-us-achieve-herd-immunity/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-07-12T20:07:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:12:56.619Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Only Way for the U.S. to Reach Herd Immunity Is With COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates og:description: New data reveals that the U.S. can't vaccinate enough people with incentives alone. It needs mandates to get people jabbed. og:url: https://time.com/6079553/vaccine-mandates-will-help-the-us-achieve-herd-immunity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c47cf4bc2eb88c4/698a1afe4ee26289dc319215/vaccines-mandates.jpeg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Atlanta Braves Offer Covid-19 Vaccine Shots At Baseball Games og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Only Way for the U.S. to Reach Herd Immunity Is With COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates twitter:description: New data reveals that the U.S. can't vaccinate enough people with incentives alone. It needs mandates to get people jabbed. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c47cf4bc2eb88c4/698a1afe4ee26289dc319215/vaccines-mandates.jpeg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Only Way for the U.S. to Reach Herd Immunity Is With COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=2e6f4eca-fb41-4bfe-888c-fec0af37da38&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What Kids Learned From the COVID-19 Pandemic [Watch (HLS stream): What Kids Learned From the COVID-19 Pandemic](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0rv0kxon.m3u8) (5:48)  _Published 2021-06-09. Too many young generations have been shaped by the global crises they faced—Depression-era poverty, Cold War nuclear fears. Add to them the COVID generation._ by [Clifford A. Young](https://time.com/author/clifford-a-young/) and [Justin Gest](https://time.com/author/justin-gest/) Jul 12, 2021 8:07 PM UTC by [Clifford A. Young](https://time.com/author/clifford-a-young/) and [Justin Gest](https://time.com/author/justin-gest/) Jul 12, 2021 8:07 PM UTC To encourage more people to get a [COVID-19 vaccine](https://time.com/collection/coronavirus-vaccines-updates/) and reach herd immunity, U.S. government leaders and their corporate partners are now dangling many carrots to hesitant Americans. Free childcare, free car rides, [even free beer has been offered](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/us/politics/biden-vaccination-incentives.html). But new evidence is emerging in places like Ohio where, after state health authorities set up a lottery offering millions of dollars to people who got the jab, [vaccination rates flatlined](https://apnews.com/article/oh-state-wire-ohio-coronavirus-pandemic-health-794fbad03d6fa15d4d96ac8742133624) after an initial bump. According to our analysis of [Ipsos polling](https://www.ipsos.com/en/majorities-unvaccinated-adults-most-15-countries-would-get-vaccine-if-they-could), such incentives won’t persuade about a quarter of American adults. And according to the most recent data, Americans—independent of their vaccination status—report [phasing out](https://www.axios.com/axios-ipsos-poll-vaccine-july-4-eb4c37de-bac5-4141-a994-bf8ce6322185.html) many of the public health precautions they took over the previous 18 months. Rather than carrots, reaching herd immunity is likely to require the use of sticks: [vaccine mandates](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/11/fauci-vaccine-mandates-499147). Health officials have left mandates as a last resort to be employed when all who might be persuaded have been vaccinated. But more than half of unvaccinated Americans say they would not get a vaccination if it were readily available to them. And problematically, our polling shows that the choices of those who remain unvaccinated may create enduring risks to public health, which could expedite the spread of mandates in order to secure places like [universities](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/31/vaccine-mandates-us-colleges), [hospitals](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/22/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-mask#houston-hospital-covid-vaccine), and [restaurants](https://ny.eater.com/2021/3/3/22309316/nyc-restaurants-mandatory-vaccine-requirements-implications). This only becomes more urgent with the rise of the more transmissible [Delta variant](https://time.com/6073345/delta-variant-covid-19/), which has spread to almost every state in the U.S. Americans who say they do not intend to get vaccinated and those who plan to get vaccinated but have yet to do so are [_more likely_ to engage](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/covid-19-commercial-tracker) in “risky” activities this summer than people who are already vaccinated. Perhaps more problematically, these unvaccinated adults are [much _less likely_ to wear masks](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/axios-ipsos-coronavirus-index) and maintain a safe distance from others compared with people who have already been vaccinated. This matters because the risk of COVID-19 infections among everyone—even the vaccinated—is dependent on the level of COVID-19 spread in a community. Epidemiologists believe that herd immunity will require between [75 and 85 percent](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/16/cnbc-transcript-dr-anthony-fauci-speaks-with-cnbcs-meg-tirrell-live-during-the-cnbc-healthy-returns-livestream-today.html) of Americans to be vaccinated. There also remains some uncertainty about the vulnerability of children under the age of 12, who currently cannot be vaccinated. When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) [announced](https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996582891/fully-vaccinated-people-can-stop-wearing-masks-indoors-and-outdoors-cdc-says) on May 13th that Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to [wear masks or physically distance](https://time.com/6049612/cdc-mask-guidance-mistake/) themselves in most indoor and outdoor places, the reversal was based on [numerous scientific findings](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/14/996879305/confused-by-cdcs-latest-mask-guidance-heres-what-weve-learned) that vaccines would provide enduring protection. However, because “breakthrough” infections depend on how much virus is circulating in a community, the CDC also asked the unvaccinated to take precautions to protect their own health and the health of others. The new Ipsos data suggest that the unvaccinated are unlikely to hold up their end of the bargain, unless they are compelled to do so. Unvaccinated adults say they are actually [_more likely_](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/covid-19-commercial-tracker) to dine at restaurants, go to movie theaters, attend a sporting event, go to an indoor concert, use a ridesharing service, and go on a cruise this summer—all activities that pose elevated risks of transmission because of close contact with other people. Despite the risk of contraction and transmission, the unvaccinated are [less likely to wear a mask](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/axios-ipsos-coronavirus-index). They are also less likely to say that they have practiced social distancing in the last week. Of course, this is a mismatch of practices. Those Americans who can now afford to relax the precautions they have taken for 16 months are hesitant to do so, and those who should maintain such precautions say they will not. As more Americans become vaccinated and since the new CDC guidelines were released, more vaccinated adults have begun to feel comfortable resuming activities previously thought to be too risky and reducing the health precautions they once took. However, polling data suggests that Americans uninterested in the vaccines were less likely to take precautions before they became available anyway, and they are no more likely to do so now.  Numerous studies have shown that this population is disproportionately less educated, lower income, rural, younger, Republican, and supportive of former President Donald Trump—who seeded significant distrust in public health authorities and scientists while in the White House. However, those uninterested in the vaccine already had lower levels of trust in the government and in the vaccine [in late 2020 and early 2021](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/axios-ipsos-coronavirus-index), when Trump was still in power. So their behavior is less a reflection of recklessness than it is a result of sustained doubt in the severity of the pandemic and the prescribed actions of government authorities. Encouragement from the White House—or their preferred beer brewery—is unlikely to move them. In fact, the U.S.—which innovated several of the world’s most effective vaccines—features among the world’s most skeptical populations. In an [Ipsos study](https://www.ipsos.com/en/majorities-unvaccinated-adults-most-15-countries-would-get-vaccine-if-they-could) of 15 of the world’s largest economies, only Russia features a smaller share of the unvaccinated population who plan to get the jab. U.S. vaccination rates were recently [leapfrogged](https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-poised-to-fall-behind-europe-on-covid-19-vaccine-first-doses-11624961154) by numerous countries who received delayed access to the medicine.  Once incentives run their course, mandates may be all government institutions and businesses have left at their disposal to end the pandemic in the U.S. The Biden Administration was previously considering issuing a [mask-wearing mandate](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-cdc-mask-guidance-workplace-possible-mandate) for workplaces, but it is unlikely that the federal government will issue any nationwide mandates for masks or vaccinations. Instead, many businesses and other entities have already started conditioning returns to workplaces and campuses on proof of vaccination. If the U.S. is to reach herd immunity, the polling suggests they are right to do so. ## Transcript I never imagined that, at the age of 12, I would be a witness to something so unusual, something that would become history. I was pretty sure that it was just like any other virus outbreak we’ve experienced. I thought that it would soon be over. COVID-19 didn’t seem that real back then. So when the first major wave of COVID cases hit in the United States, our way of life as we knew it was being upended. This was a type of uncertainty that I’d never felt before. I mean, I didn’t have any school, sports or friends to play with. School was cancelled. Then it went virtual. No yearbook signings, no end of year celebrations, nothing. Loneliness, boredom and isolation made me feel pretty gloomy. For over a year, children around the world have adapted to life in a pandemic, navigating new ways of socializing and going to school. I’m wondering when we’re going to start having school without masks because I’m starting to not get used to it. While children as a whole were generally spared from COVID-19’s viral impact, many still suffered from feelings of fear, isolation and loss. It makes me think about what if I make a mistake of taking my mask off accidentally. And it was scary for me because I have reactive airway disease. Due to my condition, my exposure to people outside my family was limited. Before the pandemic, my family visited my aunt in a memory care facility every week. Then she caught COVID-19. Watching her decline was horrible. She passed away on New Year’s Eve, and our family had to hold her funeral virtually. And in rare instances, some children struggled through severe symptoms and hospitalization. It was really bad for me because I was really weak. I could barely get out of bed for around two weeks. I was really sensitive to the light. I had stomach aches and headaches. The headaches have actually persisted up until now. I was also hospitalized and intubated in a ventilator because of a new, rare disease called PMIS, which developed after contracting COVID-19. TIME spoke with child trauma experts about the pandemic’s potential lasting impact on children’s mental and emotional well being. I think that we have reason to suspect that there’s going to be a very big emotional, psychological impact on kids, and there’s still a lot I think that we’re learning about just how extensive that is. We have some experience with how communities and young people cope with disasters. There are two things that are different about this. One is the enormously protracted nature of this chronic stressor. The second is that we were forced to socially distance, and restrain our social interaction, which is not our typical tendency when we're under stress. We know for example those children who have experienced deaths of loved ones will be more vulnerable. They're dealing with many more issues, particularly around grief and loss. We know that children that are in BIPOC communities, have always had disparities, and we're seeing that more and mental health is no different. There’s definitely evidence that mental health service use among kids and adolescents has dropped significantly. School based mental health services are one of the main areas where kids and adolescents receive mental health services from and with so many schools having gone remote for, you know, a very big chunk of the past, over a year now, there's no question that a lot of those services have been disrupted and it's made it a lot harder for kids and adolescents to get mental health services. I think there are curriculums and activities being developed for kids really helping them think flexibly and proactively taking initiative, and understanding how do you cope with these things. You can't control so many aspects of this, but what can you control? We need to really think about how do we infuse strong positive relationships both at home and at school. Because we know from the science that one caring adult, just one, can make a complete difference in the trajectory of a child's life. Experts will need more time to develop a fuller understanding of the pandemic’s lasting psychological impact. But children are resilient, and they are already drawing their own lessons from their experiences. I think one of the best things to come out of this pandemic was realizing how much enjoyment there really is in the little things. I learned how much we rely on human interaction, especially in person human interaction, looking someone in the eye, being able to give someone a hug. Life is all about facing problems and tackling them with perseverance, and it always applies on a universal and an individual level. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6079553/vaccine-mandates-will-help-the-us-achieve-herd-immunity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6079553/vaccine-mandates-will-help-the-us-achieve-herd-immunity/"},"headline":"The Only Way for the U.S. to Reach Herd Immunity Is With COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates","datePublished":"2021-07-12T20:07:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T09:12:56.619Z","description":"New data reveals that the U.S. can't vaccinate enough people with incentives alone. 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