Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, has lost her patience with vaccine hesitancy among her constituents (watch above).

“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the vaccinated folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” Ivey said to reporters on Thursday.

Alabama has the nation’s lowest vaccination rate – only 33.85% of residents are fully inoculated. Cases have spiked as the highly contagious delta variant sweeps through the nation. New infections in Alabama have increased 311% in the last 14 days.

“Let’s be crystal clear about this issue. And media, I want you to start reporting the facts. The new cases of COVID are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks. And the deaths are certainly occurring with the unvaccinated folks. These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain,” Ivey added.

Ivey said “folks are supposed to have common sense” and insisted “I’ve done all I know how to do. I can encourage you to do something, but I can’t make you take care of yourself.”

The Alabama Political Reporter notes that cases among children are on the rise, with 24 minors currently hospitalized.

“We do know that in our ICUs, we are seeing younger people intubated who are very sick or who are on the floors and are very sick,” Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham told CNN. “That should be a gigantic wake-up call.”

On Facebook, Dr. Brytney Cobia, a physician at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, shared her experience treating unvaccinated patients:

A few days later when I call time of death. I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same.
They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu’. But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can’t. So they thank me and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write their death note, and say a small prayer that this loss will save more lives.

Louisiana is also dealing with a horrifying rise in COVID-19 cases – deaths have nearly doubled in the past two weeks. Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has called the surge “quite frightening.” In a press release, he added: “If you have not taken one of the COVID-19 vaccines and you’re 12 or older, it’s time to run, not walk, to one of the more than 1,400 locations where they are readily available all across the state of Louisiana.”

Louisiana has a vaccination rate well below the national average of 48.8%. Just 36.28 of Louisiana’s population is fully inoculated.

Edwards asked vaccinated residents to help persuade the unvaccinated, saying “have private conversations with them about their questions, fears and the barriers they may face in getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Help them get good information about how safe it is, and explain that you care about them and want them to be protected.” 

Many Republican leaders – particularly in the South – have been reluctant to fully endorse pandemic-fighting measures that are unpopular among their constituents. That’s one of the reasons vaccine hesitancy flourishes in GOP circles. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows a stark partisan divide in vaccinations: 86% of Democrats have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, compared to just 45% of Republicans.

But as the delta variant imperils the nation’s precarious gains against a disease that has killed over 600,000 Americans, many conservative leaders are beginning to more forcefully encourage the vaccine. Even Fox News has sung its praises.

Then there’s Florida.

While GOP Governor Ron DeSantis has encouraged the vaccine, he’s downplayed a recent surge in the state: between July 15 and July 21, Florida has 45,449 new cases of coronavirus, by far the most in the country.

“It’s a seasonal virus and this is the seasonal pattern it follows in the Sun Belt states,” DeSantis said this week. 

CNN provides more context on DeSantis COVID-19 response:

“Don’t Fauci My Florida,” reads a T-shirt and koozie for sale on the governor’s campaign website. Another set of koozies features a quote from DeSantis: “How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?”