The Delta variant of COVID-19 is on the rise around the country, and at least one state with a low vaccination rate is making specific recommendations to its residents.
Mississippi is second to last in the country for vaccination. 33.4% of its residents are fully vaccinated. At a Friday press conference, health officials there suggested Mississippians over the age of 65 and those with chronic underlying medical conditions should avoid all indoor mass gatherings regardless of vaccination status or mask use until July 26.
“You may ask, ‘why are we doing that?’ Well, we have a lot of COVID circulating again unfortunately,” said Thomas Dobbs, state health officer. “And it’s pretty much all Delta. We know it’s very contagious.”
In the last seven days, the Centers for Disease Control reported 1,171 cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi.
Oklahoma has about 6% more vaccinated residents than Mississippi, ranking 39th out of all states with at least 39.1% fully vaccinated.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health has urged vaccination, but Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office has been quiet regarding the rise of COVID in the state. A spokesperson for his office said there would be no comment today.
Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi said Friday the guidelines from MSDH were just suggestions, and he doesn’t plan on issuing a mask mandate.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been 1,995 cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma over the past seven days.