‘We’re going to lose more family and friends’ if MS doesn’t get vaccinated, Dobbs says
Mississippians who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 face a “substantial” risk of catching the virus, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said during a news conference Friday afternoon.
Dobbs, State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers and Senior Deputy Jim Craig, all of the Mississippi State Department of Health, spent substantial time urging Mississippians to get COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are seeing some complacency,” Dobbs said. “We are seeing folks thinking this is over.”
Later in the news conference, Dobbs offered a final plea: “I just want to reiterate that COVID is still here and, sadly, we’re going to lose more of our family and friends, but we have a fabulous way to prevent that.
“Protect yourself,” Dobbs said. “Protect your family and friends. It’s time.”
Mississippi has the lowest vaccination rate in the nation. Dobbs said the low rate is indicative of a bigger health problem the state faces.
“We have a real challenge and a real failure in health prevention in our state that is born out in our high breast cancer mortality, our cervical cancer rates,” Dobbs said. “It goes well beyond COVID.”
While COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are down, hospitalizations are higher for residents in their 40s than they were in January. The doctors attributed the increase to a failure to get vaccinated.
In the 65 and older age group, which is most susceptible to severe illness or death from the virus, 75% have been vaccinated, Byers said, a rate much higher than in younger age groups.
The doctors reiterated that negative outcomes from a COVID-19 infection are much higher than health risks from the vaccines: two-dose Pfizer and Moderna, and one-dose Johnson & Johnson.
By Friday, Mississippi had reported 319,115 cases of COVID-19 and 7,353 deaths.
COVID variants emerge
Vaccination rates in Mississippi have tapered off significantly since peak demand in late February, MSDH records show.
Back then, Byers lamented, people were clamouring for vaccines.
“We’ve got the doses now,” Byers said. “We need for people to line back up and come get them again.”
He said Mississippi is seeing variants of COVID-19, but the available vaccines so far protect against them. Unless more people are vaccinated, he says, the virus will continue to mutate and could plausibly present greater danger of infection and severe illness.
“The less virus that’s circulating, the less opportunity there is for a variant strain to emerge,” Byers said.
Vaccines by the numbers
Mississippi is trailing all states in vaccinations given, data compiled by state health departments shows. The New York Times vaccination tracker shows that only 36% of Mississippians 18 and older have been fully vaccinated. Neighboring Alabama and Louisiana have the next lowest rates, at 38% and 42%, respectively.
By contrast,Vermont and Hawaii have 83% and 71% of their populations, respectively, fully vaccinated.
The MSDH website shows that, by Thursday morning, 927,437 Mississippians had been fully vaccinated, meaning they have had two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. MSDH reports that 1,055,291 residents had received at least one dose of vaccine.
Mississippi has all but erased earlier racial disparities in the population vaccinated, MSDH statistics show. MSDH statistics also show that South Mississippi counties fell below the 33% vaccination rate statewide, which includes residents 12 years and older eligible for shots.
The following percentages of those fully vaccinated in South Mississippi, MSDH reports, are:
- George — 25%
- Hancock County — 24%
- Harrison — 30%
- Jackson — 29%
- Pearl River — 23%
- Stone — 29%
MS Health Dept. engaged in outreach
The MSDH has worked in many areas to improve the state’s vaccination rate, from community outreach to a program that vaccinates the homebound. COVID-19 shots are widely available through community providers such as pharmacies, clinics and hospitals, and at pop-up and specially scheduled events.
A survey of 11,000 residents, from the end of December 2020-February 2021 indicated that 73.2% of those surveyed overall intend to get vaccinated, but results vary by region, race and gender, with residents of the Delta showing the most reluctance to be vaccinated.
In addition, only 52.2% of those surveys intend for their children get COVID shots.
The survey concludes: “Overall, Mississippians are most concerned about the COVID-19 vaccine’s safety, side effects, FDA approval, and effectiveness.
“These four concerns remain the most frequently indicated concerns against accepting a COVID-19 vaccine, whether it is by gender, age, annual household income, or education status.”
