Mississippi seniors to have COVID-19 vaccine access beginning next week
Published 2:36 pm Monday, January 4, 2021
Mississippi residents age 75 and older will begin to have access to the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine beginning next week, the state announced Monday.
The following week, residents 65 and older will have access to the vaccine, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said.
“We can’t afford months of analyzing and prioritizing,” Reeves said. “We need to protect the most vulnerable quickly.”
Reeves said Monday during a news conference that the virus’ spread is now worse in Mississippi than it has been in the past and the pressure on the hospital system is becoming tremendous.
“We have more patients with COVID in ICU beds at the end of last week than any other period throughout this pandemic,” Reeves said. “We are now in a very critical time and in a very critical situation.”
Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said he believes the numbers may get worse in the coming weeks.
“We do strongly anticipate another surge following the holidays,” he said. “Please, wear a mask in public.”
Through yesterday, Dobbs said 355 COVID patients were in ICU beds in Mississippi. A record-high 1,369 COVID patients were hospitalized across the state.
