HI everybody. Did y'all see this story this past week from Dr. Brytney Cobia from Alabama? She says
she has to tell her unvaccinated COVID patients while they're on their death beds begging for the
vaccine, "I'm sorry, it's too late." Because at that point there's nothing she can do but
prepare them to be intubated. Now Alabama happens to be the state with the lowest vaccination rate
in the nation at 33.7% So I'm asking you my fellow citizens, red states, blue states,
purple states and everybody else in between: What are we doing to ourselves and to each other
as a country? We have to do better. We have to do more. We can't afford to go backward in this
battle against COVID. We can't afford to be locked down again because we never reached herd immunity.
Now when a vaccinated person gets infected with Delta,
that's called a breakthrough infection and the level of virus in their nasopharynx
is about 1,000 times higher than with the Alpha variant, which is what we started with
over a year ago. Now Dr. Fauci said that in an interview this past Wednesday. 1,000 times
higher! That is so highly contagious and the delta variant is affecting the unvaccinated more than
anybody. So people who are being hospitalized and dying from COVID have one thing in common:
They are unvaccinated. Getting vaccinated equals protection from serious illness for you,
for your loved ones, and for anybody you come in contact with. And of course this is America,
it's your choice but how fortunate are we even to have full access to three different vaccines that
are all proving effective so far? I gotta tell you I felt so blessed to even have the choice to be
vaccinated. I had pneumonia in 2019, which left my lungs sensitive and when the pandemic hit I
was terrified of the effect COVID would have on my body. So I waited my turn for my age group and got
vaccinated mid-February. It was a big gratitude exhale moment. It was relief on so many personal
levels. But I also felt like I had done my part to help fight this COVID battle that we're all in. So
still being vaccinated hasn't changed how I moved through the world. If I'm going out into the world
I'm gonna put on the mask because the battle's not over. I'm still extremely cautious, still masking
up, still following the CDC's guidelines, and my own guidelines for staying safe. And now as the
experts expect another surge y'all come this fall. The CDC is recommending that even fully vaccinated
adults and kids return to wearing masks indoors in areas of the country where cases are high. Again
I know that whether or not to receive a vaccine is a choice but to anybody watching who has made
the choice not to be vaccinated I'm asking you to ask yourself why? Because some of you might
list conspiracy theories or just the fact that the vaccine isn't fully approved and you don't
trust it or maybe people are still getting COVID even with the vaccine as your excuse. Well no the
vaccine is not 100% foolproof but it is extremely effective against hospitalization. And with over
600,000 deaths and counting and nearly 100% of current hospitalizations comprised of people who
are not vaccinated, don't you think it's worth now taking another look and taking the risk? I imagine
a great many of those 600,000 and more souls would have appreciated a chance to get the shot
and I think back to Dr. Cobia who said that when she delivers the news of a patient who has died
that she tells the family members that the best way to honor them is to do one simple thing and
that is to get vaccinated. So I'm urging you to do the same before Dr. Cobia's words are introduced
to you or someone you love: I'm sorry it's too late. Those are words you don't want to hear.