Vaccine mandates are one thing. Enforcing the mandates is another.

It seems like not long ago that it was a competitive sport to get vaccinated against Covid-19, with long lines and people standing by in hopes of an extra dose.

How times have changed. Now, community health workers knock on doors to talk about vaccination. Governments pay for glossy direct mail encouraging vaccination. And employers, increasingly, are taking bold stances on mandating vaccines for employees – and in some cases facing alarming pushback.

On Friday, July 30, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to require that all county employees get vaccinated, or show proof of a medical or religious exemption and, if exempt, get regularly tested. County Administrative Officer Charles McKee announced the policy in an email to the county’s 5,400 employees.

Within hours, there was pushback. At 6:14pm, Undersheriff John Mineau sent an email to Sheriff’s Office employees: “The Sheriff does not support the policy and Sheriff won’t enforce this on employees. His belief is this is a personal decision between and (sic) employee and the employee’s physician or clergy. County HR will begin to meet and discuss this policy with bargaining units in the near future.”

Those discussions at the county and elsewhere are still ongoing, even as the county policy is set to take effect Aug. 16.

The state followed on Aug. 5 with a similar requirement for all health care workers, giving them until Sept. 30 to be fully vaccinated. But when it comes to implementation of these mandates, there are still negotiations underway.

At Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, where workers are represented by four different unions, employees may be placed on a leave of absence while they cannot enter the hospital. (Things are different at a place like Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, where workers are not unionized, and if they do not comply will face termination.)

SVMH Chief Operating Officer Clement Miller estimates at least 85 percent of the staff is already vaccinated, which might mean bringing on temp workers who are vaccinated to serve patients. “We value our employees, we really want and need them here,” he says.

And by need, he is talking in part about another surge of the virus that is now underway: SVMH went from a Covid-positive patient count of eight on Aug. 10 to 12 on Aug. 11.

Health care institutions like SVMH are subject to the state mandate, but employers in other sectors are left making up the rules as they go, and facing the very outspoken onslaught of anti-vax (and anti-science) sentiment as they do try to take a stand. After I first wrote about Sheriff Steve Bernal’s defiance of the county policy in our daily newsletter, Monterey County NOW, I heard from many readers who are finding themselves in similar situations with leaders who are choosing not to lead. One reader, who works at a chain retailer in Salinas, received word from HR on Aug. 2, that they would follow the county model and require workers get vaccinated. Then the next day came the flip-flop email: “In response to concerns… we are listening and are sensitive to the concerns. Therefore, we will not require store employees to be vaccinated at this time. However, we will continue to encourage it.”

I realize it’s not easy to hold the line. A Pacific Grove business owner wrote to me about experiencing bullying from customers deriding her mask-wearing policy; one persisted in entering the store, prompting the proprietor file a police report.

That business owners are in the position of having to make their own public health rules is beyond frustrating. The latest guidance from Monterey County Health Officer Edward Moreno is a non-mandatory recommendation to wear a mask – effectively punting responsibility from government to business owners, who are left to make their own determinations.

But even for employers with mandates from the county and the state, there is friction. At SVMH, Miller says the number-one reason people are holding out from the vaccine is fear. What I fear is that this virus persists, people keep dying, our economy again shuts down. We can get free of this thing by getting vaccinated. When someone tells you it’s a personal choice – freedom – they’re seeking freedom from the wrong thing.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com or follow her at twitter.com/sarahayleyrubin