Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R) said it’s “time to start blaming the unvaccinated” for rising COVID-19 cases and deaths in her state.
When asked by reporters about what can be done to boost vaccination rates, Ivey responded: “I don’t know, you tell me! Folks supposed to have common sense.”
“But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” she said. “It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”
Alabama has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, with only 48.7% of the population age 12 and up receiving at least one dose. Additionally, only 39.6% have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
And the state’s vaccine rollout shows no signs of speeding up – only 6,118 vaccine doses were administered in Alabama on Wednesday, a considerable drop from the 45,000 administered back in April.
Ivey, who was vaccinated in December, said it should be “crystal clear” that unvaccinated “folks” are to blame for new cases and hospitalizations.
Over the past week, Alabama has seen a 70 percent increase in COVID cases as well as its highest hospitalization rate.
“These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle and self-inflicted pain,” Ivey told reporters. “You know we’ve got to get folks to take the shot. The vaccine is the greatest weapon we have to fight COVID, there’s not question about that, the data proves it. I’ve done all I know how to do. I can encourage you to do something, but I can’t make you take care of yourself.”
