Once faced with COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the public is now adequately prepared to deal with the ongoing battle against the illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest course of action has been the recommendation of what is no longer to be referred to as boosters but rather the 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine for everyone six months and older.

The updated vaccine offers the necessary defense for the fall and winter seasons. It provides its receiver with “enhanced protection against the variants currently responsible for most infection and hospitalizations in the United States.”

Vaccination has long proven to be the best form of protection against COVID-19 and as is often the case with most vaccines, lifelong immunity isn’t a viable option.

The virus is subject to constant change, as is expected from anything undergoing an evolutionary process and as indicated by the increasing number of variants COVID-19 has already seen.

The most vaccines have to offer is partial protection, making a decline in their effectiveness an issue but a naturally inevitable one.

A problem arises from the difficult decision to recommend shots to all eligible Americans instead of only the most vulnerable groups, such as people with high risks of severe disease or underlying health complications. The decision came after months-long deliberations among a CDC panel of experts assigned to roll out the FDA-approved shots.

The data resulting in this decision, as reported by CBS, suggests that all Americans, regardless of age group and previous health records, are not only at risk of severe disease from the virus but are also hospitalized because of it, both of which the panel members suggest are vaccine-preventable.

There’s no denying most of this year was spent on moving forward from the COVID-related events from the previous two years. The Washington Post reported such sentiment acknowledging the existence of COVID-19 no longer means much as the public seems to have unconsciously but simultaneously agreed to move on.

The government’s actions throughout the year suggest a similar reflection of feelings, including WHO declaring an end to COVID-19 as a national health emergency, the abandonment of precautions of previously required mandates and the decrease in announcements and testing.

Yet their actions undermine the severity of the problem. The National Library of Medicine reports that an alarming three-quarters of Americans are at high risk of COVID-19 related illness. CBS supports such reports by stating that more than seven out of ten Americans sit at higher risk due to overweight issues.

Previous vaccines have proven effective in reducing the risk of severe COVID-19 related disease. According to doctors and researchers, that’s their primary goal, as reported by CNN.

Indeed, a recommendation is the weakest attempt at targeting a group of people that should be highly concerned. The newly approved vaccines and the reinstatement of free COVID tests for households occur because of current needs and demands.

If reports regarding the seriousness of COVID were correct, vaccines and testing wouldn’t be optional, which means mandates would be necessary. However, there’s much concern to answer over their constitutionality and ethicality, both of which are being largely ignored.

In addition, their absences in the presence of a problem still reporting decently concerning numbers proves one of two things: mandates were always unnecessary or the problem is no longer serious.

If a member of the public cannot place a finger on the truth with good reason, then there’s a clear divisive issue. And in every case, the easiest route is ignorance.