Publication date: May 29, 2026
COVID-19 vaccine resistance was detrimental to herd immunity and worsened COVID-19 morbidity and mortality during outbreaks. Despite more evidence showing reactionary behavior among residents exposed to vaccine mandates, little research has been conducted on the effects of state proof-of-vaccine (POV) mandate bans in the United States (US). We sought to investigate the causal effects of POV mandate bans, overall and stratified by policy passage via executive order or state legislature, on first-dose COVID-19 vaccinations. In the contiguous US, 21 states enacted POV mandate bans from 8 February 2021-25 October 2021. Using a geographic regression discontinuity design, we selected treatment and control counties within 150 miles of the POV mandate ban state border. The resulting sample was 4612 county-observations and 2466 unique counties. We conducted two-way fixed-effects estimation to compare changes in weekly, first-dose COVID-19 vaccinations among individuals
Open Access PDF
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Herd | COVID-19 vaccination behavior |
| Morbidity | proof-of-vaccine mandate bans |
| Vaccine | psychological reactance theory |
| Weekly |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Coenzyme M |