With a rise in COVID cases that could be a "catastrophe" for local hospital systems, vaccinated people are growing increasingly hostile to vaccine resistance.
Political analyst Otis Sanford says one reason the country isn't treating COVID with the same urgency as measles or polio is that politicians "poisoned the well" from the beginning.
While politics explains, for Sanford, why many Republicans are resisting vaccines and masks, two recent maps from the health department raise other questions.
The first map shows that the number of active COVID cases are highest in the Frayser and Orange Mound zip codes, predominantly African American communities.
The second map, however, shows the number of pediatric cases are growing, surprisingly, in the Cordova area.
Sanford says it adds to the concern about Gov. Bill Lee's anti-mask executive order, which municipal school districts have complied with.
More than 1,000 parents opted their children out of mask wearing this week as the delta variant sent a growing number of children to the hospital.
President Joe Biden sent lettersto Republican governors, including Bill Lee and Tate Reeves urging them to quit politicizing the virus and endangering children.