Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Calls Unvaccinated COVID

Alabamians are dragging their feet to get their COVID-19 vaccine, and their Republican governor is fed up.

“People [are] supposed to have common sense, ”Governor Kay Ivey told reporters on Thursday. “But it’s time to start blaming unvaccinated people, not ordinary people. It’s the unvaccinated people who let us down.

Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the country. Only 39% of the state’s population have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the CDC.

“These people choose a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain,” Ivey said. “I want people to get vaccinated. This is the cure.”

COVID-19 has increased across the country over the past month, as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads as people visit reopened businesses. In data released last Friday, Alabama’s COVID-19 cases were up 130% from the previous week.

Much of the wave of infections is among the unvaccinated, but there have been “groundbreaking” cases among people who have received their vaccines. Still, vaccines are remarkably effective at preventing serious illness, with nearly all deaths from COVID-19 in the United States in recent weeks among unvaccinated people.

This week, prominent Republicans across the country came out in force, trying to convince their constituents to be shot, after months of scare scares from the conservative media.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville echoed the governor’s concerns. “If you have any doubts, talk to your doctor,” Tuberville said Thursday. “Visit with people who know a lot about it. Because we’re in a situation right now where this won’t go away if we don’t get more people vaccinated.”

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second House Republican, received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccination on Sunday.

“It’s not complicated. Ninety-seven percent of people who are currently in hospital for COVID are not vaccinated,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. “So if there’s anyone out there willing to listen: get vaccinated.”

McConnell also called on people to “ignore all these other voices that are obviously giving bad advice.”

The change was also clear in the right-wing media. Fox News hosts Steve Doocy and Sean Hannity both spoke out in favor of vaccines this week – although Hannity later tried to back down that he encouraged viewers to take the photo.

And when reporters in Alabama asked if it was Ivey’s responsibility as head of state to ensure his people were vaxxed, the governor focused on the need to be accountable. (Ivey, for example, signed legislation banning schools from requiring vaccination against COVID-19).

“I’ve done everything I can do,” she said. “I can encourage you to do something, but I cannot make you take care of yourself.”