White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday it is not the role of the administration to 'place blame' after the governor of Alabama called out Americans who have refused to get vaccinated for the rising COVID rates in the U.S.
'I don't think our role is to place blame, but what we can do is provide accurate information to people who are not yet vaccinated about the risks they are incurring not only on themselves, but also the people around them,' she said.
Psaki's comments came after Alabama Governor Kay Ivey blamed Americans who have refused to get vaccinated against coronavirus for rising COVID case rates. Ivey's state and others across the South are hammered by new infections - with three states in the region now accounting for 40 percent of active cases nationwide.
'Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,' Ivey, a Republican, told reporters on Thursday.
Psaki kept the White House response focused on educating people who are not vaccinated about why they should get the shot in the arm.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it is not the role of the administration to 'place blame'
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (pictured) said that 'it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated' for the new wave of COVID-19 cases
Psaki also refused to entertain the possibility the administration would put vaccine mandates in place as the vast majority of new cases have been reported in people who are not vaccinated.
'That's not the role of the federal government,' Psaki said when asked about mandates. 'That is the role that institutions, private sector entities and others may take.'
President Joe Biden and his officials have take to calling COVID 'a pandemic of the unvaccinated'
She did express sympathy for Governor Ivey.
'We understand her
