bloggers, youtubers. >> reporter: as the delta variant continues to run rampant, health care leaders face a challenge. nearly 30% of their own ranks as of july still had not been vaccinated according to the covid states project. and as cases and hospitalizations remain high here in idaho, one official saying there's really only one word to describe the current situation -- >> awful. we're in the worst state that we ever have been in the pandemic. >> reporter: things right now so dire that last week, the state authorized hospitals the right to ration treatment. >> reporter: it comes even as the state still has no mask mandate. protesters staging mask burning rallies like this one in march. idaho also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. the lack of restrictions causing frustration in neighboring washington state, where there is a mask mandate and where hospitals like this one in spokane are filling up with patients from idaho. doctors warning everyone from cancer patients to people on a transplant list could see delays in treatment. >> those patients who are impacted and their families, how