Health experts continue to be cut and dry with their COVID-19 advice: Get vaccinated, or continue to deal with the impacts of the pandemic as cases continue rising in communities with low vaccination rates.
"We can't have it both ways; we can't be both unmasked and non-socially distant and unvaccinated. That won't work," Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a CNN medical analyst, and professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, said on Monday, WESH reported.
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The Delta variant has continued to rise, accounting for nearly 50% of all new COVID-19 cases in the United States. In addition, COVID-19 cases overall rose a sharp 47% over the past week due to the more transmissible spread of the variant.
However, not everywhere sees the surge, as communities with high vaccination rates have continued to remain immune to the virus. Some people are still getting infected, but they are not seeing severe symptoms or dying at the rate of those who are not vaccinated.
About a third of the nation's cases are coming out of five different states, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Nevada, according to Reiner.
Again the impacts have been felt mainly by the unvaccinated, with more than 99% of all deaths in June coming from those who have not received their shot, According to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC.
"We have to pick sides, and the side is we need to be vaccinated," Reiner said. "We have the tools to put this down — we can put it down this summer — but the way to do that is vaccination."
Many have remained hesitant to get the vaccine, and in order to get more Americans with shots in their arms, officials say they still need to address their concerns.
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Hesitancy, for some, comes from the speed at which the vaccines were developed and warnings about blood clots and other rare side effects. News that Johnson and Johnson's variation of the vaccine may be related to a rare neurological disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome, led to many going online to share their continued hesitancy.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that it was only a matter of time before the vaccines were fully approved, not just approved under emergency usage.
The political divide has also played its part in inhibiting vaccinations; Reiner stressed that as over 600,000 Americans have died, the virus should be seen as the enemy, not the vaccine.
Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. shared that he was skeptical about getting his shot at first. However, he is now working to lead in making sure residents in his state get vaccinated. Arkansas is among the lowest states for vaccination rates at 35%.
"It's serious, and we should not have to allow someone to die for us to really believe the research and science. What we continue to do is go by data-driven policies and research and all that we do in our administration, and this is just another way to continue to do that because, again, this saves lives," Scott said to WESH.