Visiting the Coast, maskless Reeves says MS should move on with life as COVID rages
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says he is vaccinated against COVID-19 and moving on with his life.
He thinks Mississippi needs to move on, too, and hopes more residents will decide vaccines are their best option.
Ignoring the advice of his own state health officer, Reeves convened a crowd Thursday inside Diamondhead city hall and mingled maskless, as did many of those in attendance. He came to the Coast to announce more than 100 members appointed to his new Governor’s Gulf Coast Advisory Committee on spending of millions in RESTORE Act funds coming in from the 2010 BP oil catastrophe.
But Mississippi’s epic struggle with COVID-19 was front and center as the state grapples with the highest caseload to date, the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly, and hospitals plead for staff and scramble for beds.
While some in the crowd of 150 or so attendees wore masks, many did not, including most of the dozen or so state legislators who sat on the front row for Reeves’ announcement.
He opened by saying that the vaccine was the best choice for him personally, and he hopes others will discover the same. Mississippi, he said, needs to “move on.”
No masks for vaccinated, Tate Reeves says
Before he addressed the crowd, Reeves told the Sun Herald he felt that he was at “minimal risk” of contracting COVID-19. He said that he feels safe without a mask and repeated his recent statement that the CDC was “foolish” to recommend masks for the vaccinated because it reduces incentive for others to get COVID shots.
“I think if you’re vaccinated,” the governor said, “you ought not to have to wear a mask.” But he disagrees with people who try to force their COVID mask and vaccine opinions on others or shame them for their choices.
“I don’t think it’s foolish for you to wear a mask if it makes you comfortable,” Reeves said.
Reeves said he is actively working to relieve Mississippi’s shortage of health care workers and beds. He told the Sun Herald that the state has requested 920 additional medical personnel and expects some to arrive Friday in Jackson, where the University of Mississippi Medical Center is setting up a field hospital in its parking garage.
Reeves said Mississippi is short about 2,000 nurses.
He said he was scheduled Thursday afternoon to speak with top officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency about that disaster medical relief and other requests for assistance.
However, his office did send out a news release later Thursday afternoon saying the governor would hold a news conference at 1 p.m. Friday with State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and Stephen McCraney, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The news conference could involve ongoing discussions with FEMA about disaster medical assistance, a request MSDH submitted with input from MEMA and the governor’s office.
He believes vaccinations are the ultimate answer to Mississippi’s COVID surge, but he stops short of telling Mississippians they should get vaccinated. Instead, he says that he, his wife, his mother and his father are vaccinated and that COVID vaccines have proven safe and effective.
He advises people to talk to their doctors and make their choice about getting vaccinated.
Children better off in school even with COVID, governor says
The percentage of Mississippians vaccinated is growing, he points out.
He said that he will not resume regular afternoon news conferences on COVID-19 with MSDH doctors, although he held them regularly for the first year of the pandemic.
He also believes children are better off in schools, where he also has refused to issue mask mandates, forcing school districts to make their own decisions.
The harm keeping from keeping children out of school, he said, is greater than the risk of illness. When 10,000 students are quarantined, he said, 444,000 are still in classrooms learning.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 6:10 PM.
