I have always been ardently pro-vaccine and still am for the routine vaccines which are targeted to specific age groups and which have well-documented long-term track records.  This includes a combination of efficacy for its intended purpose, low adverse reactions, and lowered all-cause mortality.  

Covid vaccines do appear to be very efficacious at preventing or minimizing severe disease, at least during the first 9-10 months.  They unfortunately, however, have the highest number of adverse reactions of any vaccine being followed, and there has been a very large spike in reported events this year which can only be attributed to Covid vaccines.  All-cause mortality takes more time to evaluate, so data is incomplete (and confounded by media reports that the majority of people in the placebo group apparently were offered and elected to take the vaccine, thus leaving us with essentially no control group (NPR 2/19/2021). There are concerns from some specialists, however, about all-cause mortality data from Israel and now, apparently, from Taiwan.  Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland all appear to have at least paused the Moderna vaccine for people under 30 years old.

Any mandate makes people suspicious. We absolutely should not force a vaccine on anyone, especially one that is not yet fully evaluated and that has some concerns.  This is especially true for a population that is very low risk--our children.  In addition, we may lose a significant number of school employees if they have a vaccine mandate, making education more difficult. Religious exemptions must be honored as a federal judge has just confirmed.