Edwards Urges Mitigation; Talks Vaccines

Gov. Edwards held a news conference Thursday where he said the vaccines being administered was “the beginning of the end” of the pandemic. He said the state received the full 39,000 doses as promised. He said Louisiana will follow the CDC’s guidance and administer the vaccine to medical workers and nursing homes first. Edwards also said Louisiana is experiencing a third surge of COVID-19, with the continued rise in cases and hospitalizations. Edwards urged people to continue taking mitigation efforts to slow the spread of the virus and said the beginning of the vaccine distribution does not mean people can let their guards down. According to Edwards, there will not be a significant impact on deaths and case counts until 100 million Americans with co-morbid health conditions are vaccinated. Edwards said the White House Coronavirus Task Force projected that would not happen until the end of the spring.