Kemp Pushes COVID-19 Vaccine While Continuing To Refuse Mandates

ATLANTA — Speaking at a news conference Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp continued to favor carrots over sticks, encouraging Georgians to vaccinate against COVID-19 while refusing to mandate any measures that might slow its spread.

Kemp did add an extra carrot: a day off on Sept. 3 for Georgia state employees to “consider scheduling” a vaccination. For those already vaxxed up, Kemp said, they could consider the day off as a “thank you.”

But if they don’t decide to vaccinate? “Then they can come back to work,” he said.

Kemp’s news conference was in response to concern about Georgia’s accelerating infection rates and increasingly packed hospitals, fueled by the more infectious Delta variant targeting the unvaccinated. Only about 40 percent of Georgians are vaccinated, while the national average is about 50 percent. At the same time, according to hospital executives as related by Kemp, “more than 90 percent” of those currently hospitalized for COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

“This safe, effective vaccine reduces the likelihood that you will get infected by COVID-19,” Kemp said to reporters. “But more importantly, it drastically will reduce the chances of you ending up in a hospital bed or losing your life”

To help overburdened hospitals, Kemp promised to more than double the number of extra hospital workers paid for by the state. He also pledged to identify 450 more hospital beds that could be pressed into service.

Kemp also pledged to keep Georgia “open for business” and “not prevent families from earning a paycheck.” Still, he doubled down on allowing Georgians to decide for themselves how best to handle COVID precautions. And after mentioning vaccine hesitancy among Blacks because of the Tuskegee experiments, Kemp looked his base straight in the eye.

“There’s a lot of conservative, white rural Republicans that have vaccine hesitancy,” Kemp said. “Instead of mandating, that just pushes people into a corner. You see where mask mandates are causing fights at sporting events and on airplanes and other things.”

Kemp then added that “people know how to deal with the virus” and urged Georgians to talk with a trusted healthcare professional or faith leader.

“Learn about the science and them make a good decision for yourself,” Kemp said. “To me, that is the best way to handle this going forward.”

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