Mississippi has the highest coronavirus mortality rate in the nation, and State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says it’s not likely to be surpassed.
“I mean, this was not inevitable. What we’ve been through was not inevitable. And where we go from here is not inevitable. We have choice,” says Dr. Dobbs. “We have the power to frame our own destiny, and if we choose the path of complacency and just ‘oh well’ then things are going to happen to us.”
Health officials say vaccines are the most effective way at preventing severe illness and death from the coronavirus.
Boosters of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine are now available at county health department clinics to Mississippians who have completed their coronavirus vaccine series. These are available to patients who are age 65 years or older, long-term care facility residents, adults with increased health risks or those who work in areas where transmission is probable. Third shots for people with weakened immune systems are also available.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers explains the difference between getting a booster dose and getting a third dose in a coronavirus vaccine series.
Dr. Byers says “There are people who are eligible for a booster, and that’s people who have gotten Pfizer and they fall under those categories. There’s people who are eligible for three shots of Moderna or Pfizer, and those are people who are immunocompromised.”
Dr. Dobbs says other states have taken measures to prevent coronavirus transmission, while Mississippi has not enacted statewide mandates to curb transmission of the Delta variant.
