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Some continue to think COVID is “fake news,” or a political tool made up by the Democratic Party to unseat Donald Trump as president.

Of course, that bears no thread of truth or reality, despite what Breitbart would have you believe. It is also a sad statement on our society that some tend to embrace anything they read on social media as long as it fits within their personal belief system.

They believe this highly contagious, deadly virus does not exist, despite the number of Adams County residents — young and old — who have died from the disease. How incredibly hurtful and insulting that is to the families of those whose loved ones have died.

This week, we learn the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined Adams County is a high-risk community for COVID transmission. We also have learned the Delta variant of COVID-19 is now the dominant variant of the virus in the U.S.

That’s bad news for Adams County, where only 39 percent of residents have received one dose of the vaccine and only 34.5 percent are fully vaccinated.

As would be expected, the southeastern United States is the least vaccinated area of the country. When the Delta variant of the virus takes hold, it will not plague our entire nation. No, it will be a problem regionally — mainly in the southeastern U.S. — health officials have said.

It does not have to be that way. Simply receiving the vaccine against COVID can protect our community. It can protect your own family.

The vaccine is readily available. It’s easy — you don’t even have to get out of your car. And it’s free.

Of the almost 10,000 Americans who died of COVID in June, less than 0.02 percent were vaccinated. Nothing is 100 percent, and no one has claimed the vaccines to be. However, they are working exceedingly well. Those who have been vaccinated and get COVID — a tiny percentage of the population — are suffering mild virus symptoms as compared to how the virus strikes those who have not been vaccinated.

We have time to turn the coming Delta variant outbreak around if we would all take politics out of the pandemic and get vaccinated. If you don’t do it for yourself or your neighbor, do it for your own family.

To schedule a COVID vaccination, go to msdh.ms.gov or call 1-866-458-4948. The life you save may be one you love.