Washington, June 16 (RHC)-- COVID-19 infections are rising in at least eight U.S. states as some Americans refuse to get vaccinated, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Wyoming are seeing a rise in the number of cases, USA Today reported.  “We certainly are getting some population benefit from our previous cases, but we paid for it,” said Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. “We paid for it with deaths.”

The states have all witnessed a drop in the number of vaccinations except for Hawaii.   This is while 29 percent of Republicans who responded to a recent CBS poll said they do not have plans to get vaccinated, while just over 20 percent of independents and five percent of Democrats said the same.

American health experts are warning that relief from the coronavirus pandemic could be fleeting in US regions where few people get vaccinated.