OPINION: Biden's vaccine mandate an uncomfortable – yet necessary – act of government intervention [Savannah Morning News, Ga.]

Sep. 15—Opinion Editor Adam Van Brimmer blogs on local topics of interest most weekday mornings in the "Savannah's Town Square" Facebook group. The following is an excerpt from one of those posts. Join the group at Facebook.com by searching for "Savannah's Town Square."

To borrow a sports euphemism, President Joe Biden is taking one for the team.

His vaccine and testing mandate gives private sector businesses the necessary cover to take drastic steps to protect their workforces. Most if not all have wanted to impose such measures but very few have. Among the outliers are Delta Airlines, which moved to increase the health insurance premiums of unvaccinated employees by $200 a month, and Tyson foods, which is requiring all employees to be vaccinated and paying them a $200 bonus.

But the overwhelming majority of employers have resisted mandates for fear of backlash. In a tight labor market in a politically charged environment, an employee revolt could be devastating.

Biden's plan takes the onus off the companies. Managers from the C-suite to the shop floor can point the finger at the president when employees take issue with the mandate. And because the mandate applies to all businesses with more than100 employees, the vaccine-resistant can't just quit and go across the street to avoid having to get the shot or take frequent tests.

It's unfortunate that Biden has to play the bad guy for workplaces to become safer. Vaccination is being framed as a matter of personal liberty when it should be one of personal responsibility. Our government — Donald Trump's administration, by the way — and our scientific community have provided us with the means to limit the effects of this deadly virus and to protect us from each other.

Yet some of us consider the shunning the vaccine patriotic or an exercise in freedom. That's a warped view — and not a sound one, as evidenced by the high percentage of unvaccinated Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 right now. And for those folks quick to point out that some vaccinated people are having breaththrough infections and are being hospitalized, the reality is they are less likely to either experience severe symptoms or to die from it.

As uncomfortable as Biden's mandate makes some Americans, it gives many more — including those of us who normally object to such government intervention — peace of mind. Those folks include employers and employees.

We may have reached a point where we are going to have to live with this virus. But we don't have to die from it. Biden recognizes that fact and is willing to take the abuse in order to better life for the rest of us.

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