Vax rate divided in blue, red states
SAVANNAH, Georgia — With coronavirus shots now in the arms of nearly half of American adults, the parts of the U.S. that are excelling and those that are struggling with vaccinations are starting to look like the nation’s political map: deeply divided between red and blue states.
Out in front is New Hampshire, where 65 percent of the population age 18 and older has received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Following close behind are New Mexico, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts at 55 percent or greater. All have a history of voting Democratic and supported President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, at the bottom are five states where fewer than 40 percent have rolled up their sleeves for a shot. Four of them — Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee — lean Republican and voted for Donald Trump last fall. The fifth is Georgia, which has a Republican governor and supported GOP presidential candidates for nearly three decades before narrowly backing Biden.
The emerging pattern: Americans in blue states that lean Democratic appear to be getting vaccinated at more robust rates, while those in red Republican states seem to be more hesitant.
“We can draw a conclusion that red states and voters that voted for Trump are going to be more difficult to vaccinate because we have real good survey data to support that,” said Dr. Howard Forman, a professor of public health and management at the Yale School of Medicine.
A poll by The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research in late March found that 36 percent of Republicans said they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated, compared with 12 percent of Democrats. Similarly, a third of rural Americans said they were leaning against getting shots, while fewer than a fourth of people living in cities and suburbs shared that hesitancy.
Forman cautioned that in most U.S. states, which receive vaccine shipments based on population, demand for the shot still exceeds supply. So it’s hard to know how many people are resisting until everyone wanting the shots gets them. But if states soon start seeing significant numbers of unfilled appointments with many people still unvaccinated, he said consequences could be serious.
“We could see substantial outbreaks for a long time,” Forman said.
The CDC reports that nearly 121 million American adults — or 47 percent of the U.S. adult population — have received at least one coronavirus shot. California, the nation’s largest blue state, is slightly ahead of that pace, at 50 percent. The biggest red state, Texas, lags at less than 44 percent.
How swiftly states are vaccinating doesn’t always correlate with how they vote.
Deeply red South Dakota ranks among the most successful states, with 54 percent of its population getting injections. Among blue states, Nevada lags furthest behind the U.S. at less than 44 percent, followed by Oregon and Michigan at 45 percent each.