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COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Alabama are on the rise, and Governor Kay Ivey is expressing her frustration with the choice many in her condition make not to get the vaccine.
At an event in Birmingham on Thursday, a reporter asked him: “What will it take for people to get shot?” Ivey retorted, “I don’t know – tell me. People are supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming unvaccinated people, not ordinary people. It’s the unvaccinated people who leave us behind. to fall.”
The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Alabama ranks 47th in vaccination rates – just under 52% of residents 18 and older have received at least one dose. Alabama also leads the country with the highest rate of positive COVID tests, at 40%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Health experts don’t recommend states reopen until their positivity rate drops below 5%.
“Almost 100% of new hospitalizations are in unvaccinated people,” Ivey said, according to Birmingham station CBS 42. “And the deaths certainly occur with the unvaccinated people. These people choose a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain. “
Ivey, a Republican, added, “I’ve done everything I can do. I can encourage you to do something, but I can’t make you take care of yourself.”
As the federal government has worked hard to change the minds of those who resist vaccination, White House press secretary Jen Psaki adopted a softer tone on Friday when questioned by Nancy Cordes from CBS News on Ivey’s remarks.
“I don’t think our role is to blame,” she said. “But what we can do is provide accurate information to people who have not yet been vaccinated about the risks they run not only to themselves, but also to those around them.”
Psaki conceded that “we understand his frustration, and we understand the frustration of leaders and public voices trying to say the right thing” and said the federal government would continue to do its job in making the vaccine available, fighting misinformation about the vaccine and working with authorities and others to get people vaccinated.
Last week, Alabama and most states saw a slight increase in the number of people receiving a first injection.
Alexander Tin contributed to this report.
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