Missouri becomes zero point for COVID-19 battle

More than half of the population has not taken a COVID-19 vaccine in Missouri, which faces one of the worst situations with the coronavirus across the country.

As parts of the United States come out of the pandemic, other parts of the country are experiencing a very different reality with the virus. Few states illustrate the divide better than Missouri.

The state has the second-highest number of cases per capita after neighboring Arkansas, according to the database maintained by the New York Times.

The Missouri Department of Health recorded a total of 533,670 coronavirus cases on Friday, an increase of 1,544 from the previous day.

According to KMBC 9 News, this is the third day in a row that the state has more than 1,000 new infections.

According to state data, only 45.1 percent of the population started immunization and 39.6 percent were fully immunized.

Hospitals across the state have said they are exhausted from the surge in infections and need to adapt quickly.

And the state’s problems are likely to worsen due to the delta variant, which is becoming more common across the country and has the power to quickly spread to unvaccinated communities.

“This is a slow-moving, high-fatality event,” Fire Chief Dave Pennington in Springfield, Missouri said on Twitter. “EMS resources are depleted and hospital systems are overwhelmed. Our community is in crisis.

The state has also been at the forefront of political disputes over the coronavirus, as some Republican officials across the country have criticized the Biden administration’s focus on vaccinating people.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (right) this week criticized the White House for its door-to-door vaccination campaign in underserved communities, part of the administration’s efforts to deal with epidemics in sensitive areas.

He also directly echoed Pennington’s remark, saying on Friday that “the state’s health system remains stable.”

State officials asked for help last week, and a member of a federal coronavirus “emergency response” team arrived this week to provide epidemiological support.

Vaccines have been shown to prevent the spread of the virus, and cities and states with high vaccination rates have lifted restrictions and have generally not fallen back in situations faced by states such as Missouri and the United States. Arkansas.

Still, Parson pushed back on the Biden administration’s door-to-door coronavirus vaccination strategy, arguing that it was not a “welcome strategy.”

He suggested that the people of his state did not want federal officials to visit them.

“I have asked our Department of Health to let the federal government know that sending government employees or agents door to door to force vaccination would NOT be an effective OR welcome strategy in Missouri.” , Parson tweeted.

White House press secretary Jen psakiJen Psaki Civil rights leaders find meeting with WH “encouraging” amid battle for voting rights Pentagon considers locations to send Afghan interpreters as Biden promises evacuations by end of July Rand Paul s ” commits to introduce the repeal of the mandate for public transport masks PLUS stated that the door-to-door campaign was led by the local population, and Jeff ZientsJeff Zients Researchers estimate COVID-19 vaccines have saved more than 280,000 lives White House signals new COVID-19 strategy as delta variant spreads Zients sidesteps question of whether poorly vaccinated areas should reimpose mandates of PLUS mask, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, then rebuffed the suggestion that federal employees would go door-to-door to encourage vaccination.

“For the people, the organizations that are fueling misinformation and trying to distort this type of trusted messenger work, I think you are doing the country a disservice and the doctors, religious leaders, community leaders and others a disservice. who are working to get people vaccinated, save lives and help end this pandemic, ”Zients said in a briefing.

Missouri health officials said on Friday that the White House had not told them how response teams could operate, but federal officials agreed that people from out of state could not enter to convince residents to get vaccinated.

It’s far from the only Missouri facing a serious coronavirus situation.

According to a USA Today analysis, cases tend to increase in nearly half of all US states. Nevada’s COVID-19 positivity rate exceeded 8% for the first time since February, with the rise in part due to the delta variant.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says variant now accounts for majority of cases in United States

But experts still say the best way to protect yourself against the variant is to get vaccinated. And there remains a red / blue divide when it comes to vaccinations.

The 21 states with the highest vaccination rates in the country, according to the Times database, were all won by President BidenJoe BidenJohn Kerry to Visit Moscow Officials to Discuss ‘Global Climate Ambition’ Civil Rights Leaders Find Meeting with WH ‘Encouraging’ Amid Voting Rights Battle Pentagon Considering Locations to Send Afghan interpreters as Biden promises evacuations by end of July MORE. The bottom 19 states have all been won by Trump.