Gov. Reeves talks vaccine rollout and addresses public skepticism

The governor and members from other state agencies spoke Monday during a COVID briefing about the vaccine rollout plan.

Focus of governor reeves' press conference today was addressing questions surrounding the availability of the coronavirus vaccine.

He was joined by representatives from several agencies including the department of health and mema, which have been a part of developing mississippi's vaccination plan.

He said that individuals over the age of 75 will have access to the vaccine next week and people over the age of 65 will have access the following week.

The governor also addressed the elephant in the room, which is the safety of the vaccine and people deciding whether or not to take it.

There are a lot of people who are still skeptical of the vaccine, and generally speaking i think skepticism is a good thing but what you're seeing here is a large number of our medical leaders and medical professionals are stepping up and taking the vaccine.

State health officer doctor thomas dobbs added that so far he's seen that 80 to 100 percent of patients in long term care facilities are taking the vaccine, but a large number of long term care facility staff are opting not to take it.

He urged staff members to get the vaccine to keep patients safe.

Governor reeves said that he hopes that people who are eligible for the vaccine but opted not to take it, will change their minds in the future.