Commentary The more I observe the establishment’s moral panic over COVID vaccines, the greater my belief that mandates are less about establishing beneficial public health policy and more about enabling an emerging technocracy to assume authoritarian control. Let’s consider the current case of Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine. From all indications, Kheriaty is a credit to his institution. He has a thriving clinical practice. He received several “excellence in teaching” awards over the last ten years. He serves as the Director of the Medical Ethics Program at UCI Health (the hospital affiliated with the medical school), a role in which he consults with patients, families, and medical professionals to resolve difficult questions involving end of life treatment. He is also a noted public intellectual having authored books and articles for professional and lay audiences on bioethics, social science, psychiatry, and …