Reeves: High COVID, low vaccine rates not just a MS problem. But data says differently
Gov. Tate Reeves on Thursday attempted to downplay the severity of Mississippi’s COVID-19 delta surge compared to nearby states with “slightly higher vaccination rates.”
During a public press conference, the Republican governor said the state’s high COVID numbers paired with low vaccination rates is not just “a Mississippi problem,” in response to a question about how to better to unify residents across the political aisle.
But federal and local data show Mississippi has the highest COVID case count per capita and the second-lowest vaccination rates in the country.
He read aloud seven-day average numbers and some daily numbers for Mississippi’s southeastern neighbors but did not put any counts into context by state population, making Mississippi’s COVID crisis seem more comparable to more vaccinated areas.
“The reality is, as I often do, and look at the statistics in other states, it’s pretty clear and evident that even in those states that have slightly higher vaccination rates, the delta variant is raging,” Reeves said on Thursday.
“I mention that simply to say that for those of you who want to decide that this is only a Mississippi problem and only a Mississippi challenge, well the numbers just don’t bear that out.”
Reeves likened Mississippi to Kentucky, which has a Democratic governor, saying it’s “a state that hasn’t gotten significant national attention, a state near our size.”
He said that Kentucky’s seven-day average case count was 2,785. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data reports that per 100,000 residents, there were 367 cases over the past week.
Over the past week in Mississippi, there were 843 cases per 100,000 residents.
Kentucky has administered 98,302 doses per 100,000 of the total population, according to the CDC. Mississippi has administered 78,470 doses per 100,000.
Reeves also highlighted Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama’s COVID numbers during Thursday’s press conference.
Compared to Mississippi’s 843 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the CDC, Florida has 664 cases in the past seven days per 100,000 residents. Tennessee sits at 477, Arkansas at 488, Louisiana at 785 and Alabama at 422.
Mississippi trails every other state, except Alabama, in vaccination rates.
“They got Republican governors, they got Democrat governors,” Reeves said of all the states he mentioned.
“This virus doesn’t really care what your political views are. It does seem to care whether you’ve had the vaccine or not.”
This article is supported by the Journalism and Public Information Fund, a fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
