Governor Tate Reeves shows his appreciation for the Mississippi National Guard

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)- Governor Tate Reeves made an appearance in Tupelo to show his gratitude to the Mississippi National Guard for their efforts in helping vaccinate thousands of Mississippians. The guard has three award ceremonies in three days to thank their soldiers, airmen, and civilian workforce for the part they played in keeping the state safe.

” I feel like I was helping the community actually doing something to try and make things a bit better because my family was affected by covid didn’t want that to happen to anyone else,” said soldier Ezekiel Blackmon.

Soldiers of surrounding areas gathered as Reeves was among the first to show his appreciation for the guard’s efforts and members didn’t take that lightly.

“To have the governor and the tag and the rest of the official party that came with them to show that level of care and support to those jr soldiers was fantastic that’s something they’ll carry you know the rest of their careers with them,” said soldier Andrew Walker.

“These men and women are incredible they represent the best that Mississippi has to offer I could not be more proud,” said Reeves.

National Guardsmen and women were honored for their efforts in slowing the spread of COVID-19, but the fight isn’t over yet as the delta variant of the virus has continually grown.

“The facts are that the total number of cases in our state has risen over the last couple of weeks the total number of hospitalization has risen a little bit in the last couple of weeks. We got down below 100 people in hospitals throughout Mississippi just three weeks ago and that number has about doubled in the last three weeks,” said Reeves.

Governor Reeves and Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said that over one million Mississippians have been vaccinated and a vast majority was through the guard’s help.

“Of all the doses that were given in Mississippi almost 800,000 were given by the National Guard drive through locations they were efficient they were much appreciated by the users,” said Dobbs.

The next stop for Reeves is Camp Shelby on July 14, 2021, at 10 a.m. then back to Jackson on July 16, 2021.