Editorial

Just look at the numbers.

More than 2,200 new cases of COVID-19 in Alaska over July 15-25.

More than 200 active cases in Sitka alone last week, winning the top spot for the worst outbreak in the state.

Almost 60 active cases in Cordova, a town of 2,800, resulting in the closure of a seafood processing plant.

Juneau reported 44 new cases over the weekend, and more than 150 in the past two weeks. The city brought back restrictions to contain the spread of the more infectious Delta variant of the Coronavirus.

Case counts in Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan all were higher than last month's numbers.

COVID-19 patients occupied 95 hospital beds around the state as of Tuesday, a large enough jump from two weeks ago that Alaska placed No. 2 nationwide for increased hospitalization rates.

Meanwhile, Alaska has slipped to 31st place among the states for vaccination rates as of Tuesday

That is not a winning record.

Yes, some of the new cases are among people who have been vaccinated. No vaccine is 100% effective, but the lack of a guarantee is not a good reason to avoid a shot in the arm. Wearing ice grippers is not 100% effective at preventing broken arms and other injuries from falling in the winter, but people use them to reduce the odds and stay out of the hospital.

Sadly, the vast majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Alaska are unvaccinated, and the clear majority of new cases are unvaccinated. They also are younger than the patients seen earlier in the pandemic, as a higher percentage of young adults have declined to roll up their sleeves for a shot.

Sadly, Alaska has plateaued at 57% of eligible residents with at least one dose of a vaccine, and 52% fully vaccinated. The rate has barely moved up 1% this month.

Sadly, the math tells us that as long as more than 40% of the population is unvaccinated, the Coronavirus has a lot of room to grow, infect and spread.

If you don't want to listen to the president's call to get vaccinated, then listen to his biggest political opponent.

"These shots need to get in everybody's arm as rapidly as possible, or we're going to be back in a situation in the fall that we don't yearn for, that we went through last year," U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said during a weekly news conference. "I want to encourage everybody to do that and to ignore all of these other voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice."

As McConnell said, there is a lot of bad advice out there. Talk with your health care professional - rather a Facebook doctor - and make a smart decision.