Over 65,000 Vaccine Doses Expire in Alabama Weeks After Gov. Ivey Scolded the Unvaccinated

Alabama’s state health officer Scott Harris announced Friday that tens of thousands of vaccines in the state have gone to waste, weeks after Gov. Kay Ivey (R) scolded unvaccinated Alabamians, accusing them of “choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain.”

According to Harris, 65,511 doses of coronavirus vaccines have expired in the Yellowhammer State, the bulk of which are doses of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine.

“As of right now, we’ve had wastage of J&J about 7,000 doses, of Moderna about 11,000 doses, and Pfizer about 47,000 doses, and that’s because a lot of Pfizer expired at the end of July, so that number’s jumped quite a bit,” he announced, calling the waste “extremely unfortunate” in light of what he described as the state’s low vaccination rate.

“But 65,000 doses have been wasted. That’s extremely unfortunate when we have such a low vaccination rate, and, of course, there’s so many people in the world that still don’t have access to vaccines, so that’s really a shame,” he claimed:

According to Johns Hopkins University data, 1,697,144 individuals are fully vaccinated in Alabama, equaling 34.8 percent of the state’s population.

However, recent data suggests that those who are not vaccinated, at this point are not being held back by a lack of vaccine availability. An Economist/YouGov survey released this month found that the vast majority of unvaccinated people will not be persuaded to get the jab — neither by the government nor their employer.

For example, the survey asked unvaccinated individuals if they would get the shot if their governor urged them to do it. Only four percent indicated that it would persuade them. Additionally, the vast majority of the unvaccinated, 75 percent, indicated they would not be persuaded, even if their employer required it.

While Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has taken a stand against some of the left’s intrusive coronavirus mandates, signing a bill in May banning the use of vaccine passports the state, she has blamed the unvaccinated for the surge in cases of the virus, despite the reality of breakthrough cases all across the country.

“Let’s be crystal clear about this issue. The new cases of Covid are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100 percent of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks,” she told Birmingham, AL’s CBS 42 last month, contending the unvaccinated are “choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain.”

“We got to get folks to take the shot. The vaccine is the greatest weapon we have to fight COVID. There is no question about that. The data proves it. I’ve taken the shot back in December, both shots. It’s just the thing to do,” she said. “The unvaccinated is who we need to focus on.”

“Folks are supposed to have common sense,” Ivey added. “But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Similarly, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, scolded unvaccinated Americans this week, accusing them of “willfully” putting others at risk and demanding they “just get the damn vaccine.”