Messenger: Dr. Alex Garza has strong words for state leaders as variable delta rages | newsletter

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“I thought this would be a really good timing (for my deployment), and then the delta variant came along,” Garza said. “It’s hard to know what the country is thinking now. It’s concerning.”

The day we spoke, Springfield, in the deep red southwest of Missouri, was setting its record for the most hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the entire pandemic. The next day, Parson criticized Springfield hospital officials – without naming them – for sounding alarm bells. Then, he instructed a leadership lacking health department to tell the federal government that their “agents” were not welcome to go door-to-door in Missouri to force residents to get their vaccinations, an idea that was never considered.

By the time the White House was backing away from Parson’s recent irresponsible act as leader of one of the nation’s worst-performing states at vaccinating its residents, the outraged governor was stepping back from his words and welcoming federal help. – and financial resources – to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This moment reminds Garza very much of the beginning of the epidemic. Then, the virus rushed into the state from the coasts, into St. Louis and Kansas City, eventually infecting every county. This time, the hotspot is in rural Missouri, and it’s growing fast — a delta variant more “virulent” than the original virus, Garza says — and without quick action, it will hit Missouri cities, spreading to the nation.

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