I lived in Orange County CA at the start of the pandemic and moved to Cincinnati in the great diaspora. Went shopping in both places. Was never asked about a vaccine. I did have to mask up.

I don’t recall being asked about a vaccine anywhere. If I worked certain jobs I can imagine it, and those would be jobs where it would make sense.

There are countries that had a stricter response, but this is a US centric discussion. Hearing Americans complain about lock downs makes me roll my eyes. The USA did not have “lock downs” outside a few very dense metros you were free to leave at any time.