Should the COVID-19 vaccine be mandated? Debate takes center stage, as hospitals, colleges and businesses start requiring the shot.

Should the COVID-19 vaccine be mandated? Debate takes center stage, as hospitals, colleges and businesses start requiring the shot.

Andrew Noymer, an associate professor in population health and disease prevention at University of California, Irvine said groups should be doing more educational work to convince hesitant people. “I think mandates are for when you’ve exhausted all approaches that make people feel like stakeholders,” Noymer said. “It’s heavy-handed, and I think we need to exhaust all avenues of encouragement before we go to mandates.”