As COVID-19 outbreaks continue to surge in red states with low vaccination rates, Kay Ivey, Alabama’s Republican governor, has concluded that “it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks” for the continued hospitalizations and deaths. “Folks are supposed to have common sense,” said an exasperated Ivey while speaking with reporters in Birmingham on Thursday. “The new cases of COVID are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks. And the deaths are certainly occurring with unvaccinated folks.” She went on to say that the unvaccinated are “choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain” and added that the vaccine is “the greatest weapon we have to fight COVID.” But when asked how the government can turn this latest COVID spike around, Ivey, who said she received the vaccine in December, responded with resignation. “I’ve done all I know how to do,” she said. “I can encourage you to do something, but I can’t make you take care of yourself.”
Over the past week, Alabama’s daily COVID cases saw a 70% jump, and the state had the highest hospitalization rate since April, per state data reported by The Washington Post. The majority of Alabama residents are unvaccinated. The number of Alabamans opting to receive the vaccine has also sharply declined. The state-wide number of jabs administered hit its peak at about 45,000 in April, but as this month comes to an end, only 6,118 residents have received doses as of July 21. “The number of COVID-19 cases reported in Alabama has risen 39% from June 26, 2021, to July 9, 2021,” the Alabama Department of Public Health announced in a July 15 COVID-19 press release. “As of July 14, 2021, 341 persons were reported hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 disease. On July 3, 2021, 179 persons were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Increases in numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are the result of low vaccine rates and unvaccinated persons not following preventive measures.”
In Texas, another Republican-led state undergoing a fresh wave of COVID cases, the state’s GOP leadership is taking an entirely hands-off approach amid the spread of the virus’s delta variant. Governor Greg Abbott assured Texans this week that there will be no new “mask mandate imposed, and the reasons for that are very clear. There are so many people who have immunities to COVID, whether it be through the vaccination, whether it be through their own exposure and their recovery from it, which would be acquired immunity.” Abbott went on to assert that it is “inappropriate to require people who already have immunity to wear a mask.”
Despite only about 43% of Texans being fully vaccinated, Abbott has also said that he will kill any new attempts to revive pandemic lockdown measures. “There’s no more time for government mandates,” he said on Tuesday, adding that it is now the “time for individual responsibility.” Over the past week, the state’s coronavirus-test positivity rate exceeded 10%, according to The Texas Tribune, which is the highest rate that Texas has seen since February.
— How Yulia Navalnaya Became Russia’s Real First Lady
— Rupert Murdoch Buried Trump’s Election Night Dreams in a Shallow Grave
— Ivanka Trump Is Next on the Chopping Block
— A Mass Labor Shortage Is Leaving Hamptonites to Fend for Themselves
— The Secret History of Gavin McInnes
— Trump and DeSantis Are on a Collision Course
— Inside the Rash of Unexplained Deaths at Fort Hood
— The Kushner Family Is Cozying Up to Nikki Haley
— From the Archive: Miami Beach, Waterworld
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.