MEMPHIS, Tenn. — My home state of Mississippi, population about 3 million, is struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. And one of the main reasons seems to be that the state’s top elected official and its top health official are not always on the same page.
Mississippi ranks near the bottom with only about 38% of the population fully vaccinated compared to more than 52% nationally. And severe COVID cases in the state are the highest they have been in months – fed by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Hospitals are overflowing with patients and out of state health workers are being brought in to help treat the critically ill. All of this as COVID deaths continue to climb – including among children.
With so much gloom, you would think political and healthcare leadership would be working together. But not in Mississippi. Dr. Thomas Dobbs is the state’s top health officer. He is fervently pushing for more residents to get vaccinated. He also supports a mask mandate in schools. And, believe it or not, he’s had to caution unvaccinated Mississippians against ingesting a drug designed get rid of worms in livestock. Yet, for his noble efforts, Dobbs is receiving threats and smears.
Meanwhile, Gov. Tate Reeves remains adamantly opposed to mask mandates – and he has downplayed the seriousness of the virus among children. It’s no wonder that my home state is in a bad place – fighting the virus.