The South could still become a summertime Covid-19 hot spot

[DonViejo]

America has made progress on Covid-19 vaccines. But that progress is unequal across the country.

By German Lopez @germanrlopez [e-mail] May 19, 2021, 9:30am EDT

All of a sudden, it seems like America is on the verge of liberation from Covid-19. Nearly half of all Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has loosened recommendations for the fully vaccinated, particularly its mask guidance. States have followed the CDC’s lead, loosening their mask mandates and social distancing requirements.

But experts are increasingly worried that, in the southern half of the country, the return to normalcy could be a mirage and that summer could bring another wave of the virus in parts of the country. “I’m definitely worried,” Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at George Mason University, told me.

The concern isn’t about another nationwide surge, but potential state or local spikes. That’s because southern states, including much of the Sun Belt and especially the Deep South, face three distinct disadvantages this summer that other parts of the country don’t.

1) Lower vaccination rates: As the US has pushed ahead in its vaccination campaign, a significant gap between southern states and others has developed. In the Northeast, at least 50 percent of people in each state have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with a few states surpassing 60 percent. In Arizona and Texas, less than 45 percent of people have. In the Deep South, most states haven’t surpassed 40 percent rates — and Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are below 35 percent. That leaves many unvaccinated people who remain vulnerable to the coronavirus.

more
https://www.vox.com/22442307/covid-19-vaccine-south-sun-belt-coronavirus-cases-pandemic-summer

[rownesheck]

1. This may sound harsh,

but the unvaccinated have been warned and they've had plenty of opportunity to get vaccinated. It sucks though that kids may end up getting sick because of a bunch of anti vax/trump scum A-holes.

[Raftergirl]

2. I just don't care what these nitwits do anymore.

There is an easy way to prevent getting CV. They are just choosing not to. Oh well.

[ZonkerHarris]

3. Maybe the Confederacy could finally just die off? I'm sure the Democrats are the vaccinated

ones in the South.

[IronLionZion]

4. Most liberals in those states would be vaccinated

so it sounds like conservatives are going for herd immunity the old fashioned way just like they've wanted all along. Teenagers and workers who might have not gotten the vaccine yet would be at risk. And then there are the variants to look out for.

I would steer clear of conservatives as much as I can regardless.

[Johonny]

5. I certainly suspect we will see a winter seasonal covid out break in rural America

where vaccination rates are low, and conditions will be ripe for faster rates of spread.

[Towlie]

6. Lower vaccination rates, Higher temperatures, and Lower adherence. But he left out Dumber governors.

 
←

[IronLionZion]

7. And dumber people

Even in states with good governors, conservatives often seem to be pro-virus