Black Belt superintendents ask parents to get children vaccinated

School superintendents in seven Black Belt systems are asking parents to get their children 12 and older vaccinated against COVID-19. 

“It is critical to have safe face-to-face instruction this school year,” said Greene County  Superintendent Corey Jones in a statement. “The more students and adults that get vaccinated will protect  our schools.” 

Jones was to be joined with superintendents from Sumter County, Hale County, Linden City, Selma City, Marengo County, and Wilcox  County schools at a 2p.m. press  conference Thursday to promote vaccinations. 

“I am delighted that the education leaders in my district are taking a stand to ensure our  children will be able to stay safe once school resumes,” said Alabama Senate Minority Leader  Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, in a statement. “We have had two school years disrupted by COVID and we  need to take every precaution to ensure that this plague does not impact the upcoming schoolyear any more than it has to.”

Alabama is seeing a surge of new cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations as the more contagious delta variant spreads throughout communities. Birmingham hospitals are seeing younger patients admitted with COVID-19, several area hospital leaders said Wednesday. 

There were 1,736 COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide on Wednesday, a 46 percent growth in just a week and the highest number of patients since Feb. 3. 

Alabama has the least number of fully vaccinated residents in the nation, at 34.6 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.