Dr. Dobbs believes we could be back to normal as early as summer

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – At a briefing today, Dr. Thomas Dobbs and Dr. Paul Beyers say they are working as hard as they can to get as many people vaccinated as possible.

But the state’s top health officers say things are “cautiously improving.”

The state of Mississippi now has 19 drive-through sites.

Dr. Dobbs said he hopes the vaccine means life for Mississippians will go back to a sense of normality as soon as this summer.

“It is gonna be a while before we can really think about any normalcy, I think the closest we could expect would be summer. Let’s just make normal not that bad, right? We’re not saying you can’t go to work or can’t go to school but we’re saying you don’t need to have big groups right? You need to do stuff outdoors and as the weather gets better that will be easier,” said Dr. Dobbs. “So let’s just consider our business and economy where we do what we have to do, we wear a mask in public, we limit social gatherings and if we do them keep them small and outdoors, and if we did those simple things, I swear to y’all, we could do that and see if it works. If you give me a month, you’ll be like oh my gosh this is a miracle. If we combine that with the vaccine I mean it will be beautiful.”

Individuals do not have to show identification or proof of underlying condition to receive a vaccine, but you must have an appointment to receive the vaccine.