“I’d say there’s hesitancy and I’d use another word — obstinance,” said Dr. Philip Keiser, a University of Texas infectious disease expert who’s been Galveston County’s Local Health Authority since 2016. “There’s this attitude, ‘You can’t make me!’” With local hospitals full and no sign of Delta letting up, he fears Mesa County’s luck has run out. In Galveston County, a lot of vaccine converts would have to step forward — and fast — to keep the Delta variant at bay. Keiser is still hopeful, but he’s not so sure he can persuade enough people in time.
