Requirements such as the vaccine mandate will not have the intended effect, but perhaps even the opposite. Want more people to quit their jobs? Requiring everyone to put something in their bodies they don't want there is a great way to do it!
These people need to be told 'no' in no uncertain terms for them to understand, otherwise this will only escalate. You can enforce any behavior with a security argument and I think Covid is still a bad justification for many measures we see today. There are also vaccinated regions where cases are rising again, much more so than before even.
Everyone that wanted to get vaccinated got a chance to do so, so any rules should be taken back. Those still in danger because they cannot get vaccinated have to deal with the risk themselves. That is manageable if you abdicate of some things, but it risk isn't large enough to restrict others.
Interestingly that's not borne out by polling. Very, very few people cop to being unvaccinated for principled reasons. Almost all the unvaccinated are simply unreached -- they live in an environment where "everyone" is unvaccinated and no one is telling them to do it. So they never called to make the appointment because it seemed weird.
Well, now someone is telling them to do it.
https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/long-view-ye-olde-anti-vax...
It seems like it would be better to convince people than to try to force them. Many don't take kindly to being forced.
And if you can't convince them, perhaps there's not enough reason to force them.
Even honest people who agree on a set of numbers, like the current U.S. death count of 1 in 493 people, may interpret those numbers quite differently. There's also still plenty of unsettled science around masks and lockdowns, and it's a shame that the news is not more honest about all this. Credibility matters.
I think it helps to quantify things with numbers where possible, with experts to help put those numbers into context, and being prepared to answer follow-up questions and objections.
Personally I agree with you that the vaccine makes sense for individuals. But I'm not so sure about what you also allude to, how much of a difference that trying to force an extra 15-20% of the population to get vaccinated is going to make to those at greater risk. Those at greater risk will still be at greater risk, from delta (which the vaccinated can spread), the flu, other respirator ailments, their old age and comorbidities, etc. It's not an argument that's going to convince someone who thinks the danger of whole pandemic has been exaggerated. Remember that 1 in 493 number. Some people don't think that's a big deal, given how good we are in the modern age at keeping old and sick people alive until something like this gets them.
Forcing people makes them resentful, both personally and politically. Dismissing their opinions as unworthy sure doesn't help. And then comes the politicians and media ready to amplify and ride the wave of the disaffected, for better or worse. Alienating people for marginal benefit carries its own risk, too.