Vaccination rates in Mississippi continue to go up amid Delta variant sweep across the state.
Governor Tate Reeves held a press conference on Tuesday to discuss the current state of COVID-19 in the state of Mississippi. He was joined by Dr. Paul Byars with the MSDH and Stephen McCraney, Executive Director, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Reeves said the state is just shy of 1.4 million who have received at least one shot. Mississippi has a population of roughly 2.9 million individuals.
Governor Reeves said over 1,000 medical workers were being deployed to Mississippi on Tuesday to assist with hospitals who have experienced extreme staffing shortages. That will leave 11 hospitals waiting for requests to be filled by the end of the week.
“My top priority throughout this pandemic has been to maintain the integrity of the healthcare system,” said Reeves. “As we progress forward, there will be more and more states that will be in need of additional healthcare workers.”
Dr. Byers did indicate that Mississippi was beginning to see a plateau in cases and that hospitalizations are leveling off. However, he did caution that a few days does not a trend make.
“We are encouraged by some movement in the right direction,” said Byers.
This week is the sixth in a row that has seen increases in vaccinations. Currently the MSDH is reporting that 98% of all new cases of COVID-19 and 89% of hospitalizations are those who are not fully vaccinated.
Byers said he hopes the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine will encourage more people to get it.
In regard to the MSDH’s isolation order that was issued on Friday, Reeves said there was no coordination with his office and theres but that the order is to act as a reminder for people who test positive to remain at home for at least 10 days as to not expose others.
That order was a reissue of the 2020 order.
Sarah Ulmer
