Alabama governor: "It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks"

A frustrated Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) told reporters Thursday that "it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks" for the state's continued surge in new COVID-19 cases.

Why it matters: Alabama has reported nearly 8,000 new cases of COVID-19 over the past week. It's one of the few states in the country with fewer than 40% of residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The big picture: Nationwide, the average number of new cases per day was up 55% over the past week — a surge driven primarily by unvaccinated people. 97% of...