Unsurprisingly, getting people in your states sick and prolonging the pandemic doesn’t sit well with the American people, and voters increasingly disapprove of Republicans’ pro-sickness agenda.

Politico: These Republicans torpedoed vaccine edicts — then slipped in the polls

• “From Florida to Texas to South Dakota, GOP governors have been on the front lines of the war against vaccine mandates, barring immunization requirements in their states and threatening to fight President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate in court. Just last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott flat-out banned vaccine requirements, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed up by vowing to sue the Biden administration.”
• “But new research shows governors in states without vaccine mandates — or where they’ve outright prohibited such a requirement — have ‘significantly lower’ approval ratings for their handling of Covid-19. While many of these governors remain popular, some have seen dips in their overall approval ratings in recent months as their states faced the latest wave of coronavirus.”
• “Vaccine mandates are politically divisive but nationally have broad support. The Morning Consult/POLITICO poll from August showed eight in 10 Democrats and at least half of independent voters want to require vaccinations for all Americans. Roughly six in 10 American adults favor vaccine requirements for federal workers and employees of large companies, according to a mid-September Gallup poll. And they’re backed by public health and infectious diseases experts who say such requirements can increase vaccinations and reduce severe illness, death and strain on the health care system.”