Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey had a few choice words for the "unvaccinated folks" in the state and blamed them for the rise in Covid-19 cases.
"Folks are supposed to have common sense," she told a reporter in response to a question about what it's going to take for people to get vaccinated.
"But it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down," she continued.
Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the country with only 38 percent of its population receiving at least one dose. According to state statistics, 31 percent were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new coronavirus cases in the state was up by 694 or 573 percent.
“Almost 100 percent of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks," Ivey said. "And the deaths are certainly occurring with the unvaccinated folks. These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain.”
She told reporters that she's done her best to fight the virus but "can't make you take care of yourself."
The governor's comments come days after a doctor in the state said she has seen young, healthy people being admitted to the hospital with serious Covid infections.
"One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine," Dr. Brytney Cobia wrote on Facebook. "I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late."
Cobia, a hospitalist at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, pleaded with people to get the vaccine.
"A few days later when I call time of death, I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same,” she posted.
