It’s a bit unbelievable how Mississippi has been able to avoid a resurgence in COVID-19 despite having the lowest-in-the-nation rate of vaccination against the virus.
The reluctance or refusal of many residents to get the shots has prompted Mississippi officials to return or never accept so far nearly 900,000 of the vaccine doses this state was allotted by the federal government.
It would be one thing if Mississippi were sending the doses back because it was trying to be charitable and let other states catch up. It is, however, Mississippi that is badly lagging, with less than 30% of the state vaccinated. According to Mississippi Today’s projection, based on current trends, only 46% of the state’s adults will have had at least one COVID-19 shot by July 4, far below President Joe Biden’s national goal of 70%.
So why is COVID-19 not resurging, with inoculation rates nowhere close to what it takes to reach herd immunity? Two reasons come to mind.
Either the state has been incredibly lucky, or a larger than estimated share of the population has already had the virus and built up immunity that way.
Let’s hope it’s the latter, because luck can run out.
