Back during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, all we could hope for was the development of a vaccine.
Plenty of folks throughout Mississippi expressed the wish that a vaccine could be found, and fast.
Once vaccines were approved, shots became available to the public in January of this year. Although initially the vaccine was limited, it wasn’t long before plenty was available. It was free, and there were lots of places to get a shot.
We rejoiced, believing that an answer to the COVID crisis was here, and that before long it would be over.
Never did it occur to us that only a third of this state’s residents would take advantage of the vaccine. It was hard to imagine why anyone would pass up the opportunity for the protection offered by vaccination. Even Donald Trump, the darling of conservative skeptics, who wound up infected himself, got vaccinated just before he left office.
But the bad dream turned out to be the reality. Two-thirds of Mississippi residents have not received the vaccine. Leflore County is doing better than the state average, but still more than half in this county have not rolled up their sleeves and gotten the shots.
With that many unvaccinated people running around, is it any surprise that when the strongly contagious delta variant arrived, many folks became ill?
We are headed back to the dark days of the pandemic, unless those unvaccinated residents of Mississippi quickly get their shots. Mask mandates, social distancing, all of that and more, including more suffering and death. Who wants it?
There are multiple excuses being offered for refusing to get vaccinated. But there is no worthy excuse for endangering yourself, your family and your friends.
To those who think they have somehow been advised by political leaders not to get a shot, think again. Presidents of both parties — not just Trump, but Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter — have received the vaccine.
Do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it for your friends, and do it to prevent a return to the dark days of the pandemic. Get your shot, and get it quickly.
