Birmingham, Ala. – Americans across the country celebrated Independence Day, but dozens of states didn’t meet President Biden’s Fourth of July vaccine goal.
Biden aimed to have 70% of Americans receive one vaccine shot or more by the Fourth of July. However, more than 30 states didn’t meet that goal, and Mississippi and Alabama are at the bottom of the list.
Before the holiday, Alabama had the second lowest vaccination rate in the United States right behind Mississippi, which had the lowest partial vaccination rate at about 46%.
Sheila Malloy, who has lived in Alabama for decades, got vaccinated as soon as it was available for her in April.
“We’re near the bottom of that tier of states that are not going to make it,” Harris said.
However, Harris says many Alabamians don’t have the same access to care compared to other states.
“We have people that don’t have access to care. In rural communities, people have transportation challenges, they don’t know where to go, they don’t have internet, or cable,” Harris said.
Large pockets of Yellowhammer State residents are at risk from the delta variant, which originated in India.
The Biden administration plans to deploy rapid response teams to areas in the United States where the delta variant is spreading.
“It’s absolutely going to happen that we’re going to have outbreaks in some workplaces, schools, or associated with some kind of event, gathering because you have lots of unvaccinated people,” Harris said
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Alabama officials say several mass vaccine sites in Alabama were forced to close because they were sitting empty. The vaccine is still available for residents at their local pharmacies and with their health care doctor.