Uneven vaccination rates across the US linked to Covid-19 case trends

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Wed, 2021-05-19 09:36 — mike kraft

Uneven vaccination rates across the US linked to Covid-19 case trends, worry experts Tuesday was a "landmark day," as the United States reached a new Covid-19 vaccine milestone: 60% of adults have now received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to the US Centers and Disease Control and Prevention. Deidre McPhillips and Elizabeth Cohen, CNN CNN

(CNN) Tuesday was a "landmark day," as the United States reached a new Covid-19 vaccine milestone: 60% of adults have now received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to the US Centers and Disease Control and Prevention.

But vaccination rates across the United States are uneven -- a worrisome trend that could obstruct efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic. Rates range from more than 78% of adults in Vermont with at least one vaccine to less than 45% of adults in Mississippi.

And over the past week, states with higher vaccination rates have generally had lower Covid-19 case rates, a CNN analysis of data from the CDC and Johns Hopkins University found.

Seven states have already reached the Biden administration's goal of vaccinating at least 70% of adults with at least one shot by July 4, data from CDC shows: Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont.

Over the past week, those seven states reported per capita case rates that were about 10% lower on average than those states that haven't yet vaccinated as many adults, according to JHU data -- an average of about 66 new cases per 100,000 people, compared to about 73 cases per 100,000 people.

And the gap in case rates widens along with disparities in vaccination rates.

Ten states have vaccinated less than half of their adult residents with at least one dose, and their average per capita case rate was about 19% higher than those seven states that have already reached the Biden administration's goal.

The 10 states that have vaccinated less than half of their adult residents -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming -- reported an average of more than 78 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week.

New Jersey illustrates the power of vaccination.

Over the course of the pandemic, the Garden State has had one of the highest rates of Covid-19, ranking 12th, with more than 11% of its population infected with the virus at some point. Yet, over the past week, the state had the third lowest rate of new Covid-19 cases, reporting an average of less than 5 cases per 100,000 people per day. ...

 Data shows another troubling trend: There are clusters of unvaccinated people in various parts of the country, and the virus could flourish in those areas. ...

ALSO SEE: Average Covid-19 cases are the lowest they've been in nearly a year. Vaccines can push them even lower, officials say

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