NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reissued mask recommendations, local health departments say they're trying to alter their message to the public as they encourage people to protect themselves from COVID-19.
"It is frustrating because you see what the answer is, you know what the answer is," said Brian Todd with the Metro Public Health Department.
That answer, Todd says, is getting fully vaccinated -- something that agency has still not convinced half of the people in Nashville to do.
Metro Public Health said they're now trying to point out that even with the delta variant's spread, the COVID-19 vaccines still work almost universally.
The department says it's recorded 350 breakthrough cases of fully vaccinated people getting COVID-19, out of 334,911 people vaccinated - a breakthrough rate of only 0.1%.
The department says it thinks at this point, the key to getting more people to get the vaccine lies in hearing not from medical doctors, but from friends, neighbors and others that people know personally.
"People that they trust who say, 'you know what, I got the vaccine and you should too, and here's why.' I think that's going to play a huge factor as we continue to inch forward with higher vaccine rates," Todd said.
