July 4 spiked MS COVID cases last year. Could unvaccinated, Delta variant mean a repeat?
As the Fourth of July approaches, the state’s top public health doctors fear COVID-19 cases and deaths will increase because many Mississippians are unvaccinated as the highly infectious Delta strain of the virus spreads.
COVID-19 vaccines are widely available. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers of the Mississippi State Department of Health on Tuesday urged Mississippians to get COVID vaccines.
Based on sequencing of virus samples, Dobbs and Byers believe the Delta strain is now the dominant strain of COVID in Mississippi. Vaccines, they said, are highly effective against the Delta strain.
“The vaccinations are saving lives, they’re saving dollars, they’re saving people from having to go in the hospital,” Dobbs said.
Of 11 deaths Wednesday, Dobbs said, 10 were in unvaccinated individuals, including three people in their 30s. One of the deaths was in a partially vaccinated individual who was in their 80s, he said.
“As we go forward, every death will be an additional tragedy because it was almost certainly avoidable,” Dobbs said.
He said the median age for COVID cases is now the late 20s or early 30s, reflecting lower vaccination rates in younger age groups.
Dobbs urged Mississippians to celebrate the July 4 outdoors, where the risk of infection is lower. Byers said people should wear masks indoors if they are going to be with unvaccinated individuals.
COVID vaccines, case numbers
Statistics for Mississippi show the power of COVID vaccines.
Dobbs and Byers said that unvaccinated individuals account for the following COVID numbers:
- 90% of deaths
- 96% of cases
- 95% of hospitalizations.
Byers said Mississippi’s current situation compares to the same time period in 2020, when COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths were increasing.
“It seems we’re in that situation now with the Delta variant and the rapidity of its spread,” Byers said, “especially in unvaccinated individuals.”
The doctors are frustrated because COVID vaccines would protect Mississippians and are available to anyone 12 or older. They say transmission is growing among school-age children attending summer camps and other activities.
They worry that the start of school will bring more COVID spread without greater vaccine buy-in. Mississippi lags the nation in getting vaccinated.
Dobbs and Byers offered the following vaccine disparities, by age group:
- 54% of U.S. residents, 35% of Mississippians 12 and older are fully vaccinated
- 57% of U.S. residents, 38% of Mississippians 18 and older are fully vaccinated
- 78% of U.S. residents, 67% of Mississippians 65 and older are fully vaccinated.
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
