Local Black leaders held a press conference Thursday at Lowndes County Courthouse to appeal to citizens to receive vaccinations if they have not already.
District 5 Lowndes County Supervisor Leroy Brooks said statistics suggest young people and the African American community have been hard hit by COVID-19 and disproportionately impacted by the emergence of the delta variant of the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports vaccination rates among younger people are lower than among older Americans. The agency’s data show that slightly fewer than half of people in the U.S. ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 39 are fully vaccinated. The number is even lower for children 12 to 17, who have been eligible to be vaccinated for months.
CDC reports lower vaccination rates among Black and Hispanic people compared to their white counterparts across most states leave them at increased risk, particularly as the variant spreads.
“We are encouraging, especially young people in the African American community, to get vaccinated,” Brooks said. “The other thing is school is getting ready to start. We want these young kids to be safe at school and it starts at home. Young parents, who are not vaccinated, will have an adverse effect. We are collectively using our voices to appeal to the entire community, but especially the African American community.”
State Rep. Kabir Karriem (D-Columbus) added, “I’m going to do everything in my power to advocate on a state level that we have the resources and things that we need to make sure that the community is safe. We can not stress enough to go get vaccinated. I know folks don’t want to tell people to be vaccinated, but that’s the only way we’re going to get back to some remnants of normalcy in our community.”
Karriem said it is essential that children and young adults be vaccinated.
“Young people have to go and get the shot, get vaccinated,” he said. “Every opportunity where they are getting free shots at, parents need to have their children there to get the shot.”
Recently, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said more than 90 percent of those who have recently tested positive or been admitted to the hospital are unvaccinated people.
Karriem said because most people in the hospital are not vaccinated, it is important to stress the message of embracing the need to be vaccinated.
“We just want to make sure that we express our concerns as leaders in the community that vaccination is where we need to be headed — everybody needs to go and get vaccinated,” he said.
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