So, Missouri, the state in which I now reside, my home state, if you will has one of the lowest vaccine rates among the states. But, on the positive side, we don't have one of the highest death rates in the country either. The five or so people I know who died of COVID don't count, I suppose, in the overall statistics.
Our governor, Jim Parsons, is a former rural lawman. He seems to be a smart politician, if a poor COVID vaccine manager, in my opinion. Like many of my fellows in this state, I took a long drive to get a shot to a county where vaccines were wasted compared to my county where vaccines were hard to find. Somebody did not know how to do the math.
But, Mr. Parsons is correct about one thing, Missourians will probably not respond in large numbers to "the government" knocking on their doors to get a vaccine. And in the rural areas they live so far apart that it would be a waste of gasoline.
Carrot and the stick works best in my opinion. Set a date to start charging for the vaccines, a time limit to get free shots, if you will. Put up some billboards, have some celebrities encourage shots, have a popular sitcom have a character die from COVID because they didn't get the shot.
In the meantime, I think the ads for Branson should say--Come to Branson, get the virus. How brave are you? Because for a while that southwest corner of Missouri had the highest rate of COVID infections in the country.
In the meantime, I am hanging out with vaccinated people. I wear a mask when I shop or go to church. And I pray a lot for people to get a whole lot smarter.
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