Columbus pharmacist says he saw 60 percent increase in vaccinations as Mississippi slowly increases vaccination rate

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Tuesday morning, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs expressed his optimism at the growing number of Mississippians who are finally getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, they administered more than 81,000 shots between August 15 and August 27th. They say close to 53,000 of those shots were first doses.

Mississippi has seen an increase in vaccinations for the last six weeks in a row. Pharmacist Kin Seto has seen the same thing at the Family Pharmacy in Columbus. He told WCBI there has been a 60 percent increase in vaccinations during the past three weeks.

“The biggest reason (for the increase) right now, I’ve seen a big spike in the number of cases and also the number of deaths that have occurred,” Seto says. “And if you follow the obituaries, we see a lot of people in their 30s and 40s that have died from COVID right now.”

The health department reports around 1.1 million Mississippians are now fully vaccinated, which is about 38 percent of the population. MSDH says close to 46 percent of Mississippi residents have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.