Immunization policy in the U.S. has reached a grim tipping point. While resistance to vaccination is not necessarily a new problem, the COVID-19 pandemic and the political polarization of vaccine mandates that followed have made it much harder to contain infectious disease and boost immunization rates.

Given this new world order, researchers Mark Navin and Katie Attwell—authors of America's New Vaccine Wars: California and the Politics of Mandates—urge Americans to rethink their immunization strategy. In their new piece for TIME, the authors argue that if we cannot prevent outbreaks, we must refocus our efforts to managing them.

Among their most salient points:

• Abolishing non-medical vaccine exemptions, such as for religious objectors, will not prevent outbreaks. In this current political climate, it will make vaccine policy even more entrenched in America’s culture wars.
• Community-level planning is essential, including ensuring workplaces and schools can quickly switch between in-person and virtual work and learning.
• Families will have to increasingly make daily decisions about how to shield their kids from exposure to unvaccinated family and friends.

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