Alabama Governor: ‘Start blaming the unvaccinated folks’ for rise in COVID

Birmingham, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) - Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey puts the blame for the rapid rise in the state’s COVID cases squarely on “the unvaccinated folks,” WBRC-TV reported.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alabama is the least vaccinated state in the country, with less than 34% of its residents fully vaccinated.

“Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” Ivey told reporters.

Still, Ivey ended the state’s mask mandate in April and disagrees with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to require face masks for people older than 2.

“Governor Ivey believes students need to be in the classroom without any type of mask requirement,” spokeswoman Gina Maiola said this week. “She continues to encourage all eligible Alabamians to roll up their sleeves and get the vaccine to make COVID-19 a distant memory.”

With the delta variant surging, average daily COVID-19 cases in Alabama are nearly double what they were a week ago, CNN reported. They are more than four times higher than they were two weeks ago.

“These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain. We’ve got to get folks to take the shot,” Ivey said.

“It’s their job to take care of themselves and us as well. We can’t do that for them. All we can do is everybody take the shot themselves. So, encourage others to do likewise.”

Copyright 2021 WBRC via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.