CULLMAN, Ala. — Former President Donald Trump was briefly booed during a rally in Alabama.
The reason? He recommended getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Trump hosted one of his "Save America" rallies in Cullman, Ala., over the weekend. The city had just declared a local state of emergency due to COVID-19 days ahead of Trump's arrival, according to ABC 33/40.
During the rally, Trump said, "you know what I believe totally in your freedoms. You gotta do what you gotta do, but I recommend take the vaccines. I did it. It's good."
As he said this, boos came from various parts of the crowd, which appeared to be largely maskless.
"That's okay. That's alright. You got your freedoms," he quickly added as the crowd quieted down again. "But I happen to take the vaccine. If it doesn't work, you'll be the first to know."
According to the state's COVID-19 dashboard, Cullman County's level of transmissibility for the virus is high. Similar to Florida, most of Alabama is "red hot" when it comes to transmission of COVID-19. Only 30 percent of the county is fully vaccinated, state data shows.
In July, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said it was "time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks" for the rise in COVID-19 cases fueled by the delta variant. According to state data, not a single Alabama county is above 40 percent of people being fully vaccinated against the virus.
Health officials and the governor herself site the low vaccination rate as a major hurdle in trying to combat the virus and the new, highly contagious delta variant.
RELATED: Alabama's governor says 'it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks' for rise in cases
Studies have shown the vaccines to be highly safe and effective. But misinformation continues to sow doubts about them, especially in conservative and rural areas.
One way to quell doubts about getting the vaccine, according to some leaders, is giving the COVID-19 vaccines full FDA approval rather than emergency use authorization. The Pfizer vaccine could receive full FDA approval as early as Monday.
The Associated Press and CBS Newspath contributed to this report.
