Americans are tired. They are exhausted. They’ve been staring at the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel for months now, waiting to finally feel as though the world has conquered COVID-19.
And we wait.
With only about half the country vaccinated against the illness, and the other half unlikely to suddenly decide to participate in this public health measure, the coronavirus pandemic has begun to mutate among the unvaccinated. This has spawned variants that have sent case numbers soaring – especially among those who’ve not been inoculated.
Now, many lawmakers are looking for ways to gently coax those who’ve thus far abstained from the jab into changing their minds.
In Alabama, however, there is nothing gentle about the coaxing.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said people are “supposed to have common sense” as she unloaded on unvaccinated people for driving coronavirus outbreaks and hospitalizations in her state.
“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” she said at a Birmingham event Thursday night that aired by the CBS WIAT affiliate.
Only about a third of Alabama’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, putting it worst in the nation alongside Mississippi.
The numbers were fairly ugly.
About 49% of the U.S. population is vaccinated. The rates for Alabama and Mississippi are around 34%.
There are hopes that some of the vaccine holdouts may find a change of heart once the inoculations transition from “emergency use” authorization to full FDA approval, but there is no set timeline for that.
