The U.S. covid-19 vaccination rate is currently 49.71%, ranked 22nd in the world, down from 18th place just last week. But which individual states are doing the best?
We’ve compiled a list of vaccination rates for every U.S. state and Washington D.C. using data from Johns Hopkins University, comparing each state to the vaccination efforts of other countries.
The top state isn’t even a state, with Washington, D.C. taking the top spot. Over 69% of residents in the District of Columbia have been fully vaccinated. Vermont (68%), Rhode Island (67%), Massachusetts (63%), and Maine (63%) round out the top five.
But some states are really struggling to get people vaccinated. Alabama is the worst, with only 34.27% of its population fully vaccinated, with Mississippi (34.34%) and Wyoming (36%) rounding out the worst three states for covid-19 vaccinations.
Below we have all 50 states (plus D.C.) and how they’re doing compared to countries around the world.
District of Columbia – 69.37%, similar percentage to the United Arab Emirates
Vermont – 68.11%, similar to San Marino
Rhode Island – 67.26%, similar to San Marino
Massachusetts – 63.99%, similar to Chile
Maine – 63.58%, similar to Bahrain
Connecticut – 62.75%, similar to Uruguay
Hawaii – 59.78%, similar to Mongolia
New Jersey – 59.02%, similar to Qatar
Washington – 58.88%, similar to Israel
Maryland – 58.76%, similar to Israel
New Hampshire – 58.51%, similar to Israel
Oregon – 56.89%, similar to Bhutan
New Mexico – 56.83%, similar to Bhutan
New York – 56.27%, similar to Canada
Colorado – 55.47%, similar to United Kingdom
Virginia – 54.68%, similar to Spain
Minnesota – 54.24%, similar to Hungary
California – 53.27%, similar to Singapore
Delaware – 53.21%, similar to Singapore
Pennsylvania – 51.92%, similar to Ireland
Wisconsin – 51.81%, similar to Ireland
Illinois – 50.30%, similar to Portugal
Florida – 49.79%, similar to Germany
Nebraska – 49.70%, similar to Germany
Iowa – 49.56%, similar to Liechtenstein
Michigan – 48.73%, similar to Maldives
North Carolina – 47.47%, similar to Netherlands
Utah – 47.39%, similar to Luxembourg
South Dakota – 47.39%, similar to Luxembourg
Arizona – 47.15%, similar to Switzerland
Ohio – 46.35%, similar to Greece
Nevada – 45.58%, similar to France
Kentucky – 45.43%, similar to France
Alaska – 45.14%, similar to Poland
Kansas – 44.96%, similar to Poland
Montana – 44.89%, similar to Poland
Texas – 44.56%, similar to Poland
Indiana – 44.41%, similar to Andorra
West Virginia – 42.25%, similar to Czechia
South Carolina – 41.36%, similar to Mauritius
Missouri – 41.11%, similar to Mauritius
North Dakota – 40.19%, similar to Mauritius
Oklahoma – 40.11%, similar to Mauritius
Georgia – 39.92%, similar to Serbia
Idaho – 39.86%, similar to Serbia
Tennessee – 39.59%, similar to Serbia
Louisiana – 36.48%, similar to Estonia
Arkansas – 36.22%, similar to Estonia
Wyoming – 36.21%, similar to Estonia
Mississippi – 34.34%, similar to Latvia
Alabama – 34.27%, similar to Croatia
Keep in mind, this list only counts the percentage of the eligible population that’s been fully vaccinated. California, for instance has immunized the most people in the country by far, with over 20.9 million residents fully vaccinated. But the state ranks 18th in our list because only 53.27% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.
Why are some states doing better than others? Sadly, a lot of it has to do with politics. Americans who support former president Donald Trump are much less likely to support covid-19 vaccination, and you’re seeing that play out in states like Arkansas, where the Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, was booed yesterday for debunking conspiracy theories about the coronavirus vaccines, such as the false idea that they cause infertility in women.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) and state vaccine official Dr. Jennifer Dillaha berated by crowd with boos, groans and shouts for saying there is no medical evidence at this time that the COVID vaccines impact fertility. pic.twitter.com/LpUpHVJxbO
— The Recount (@therecount) July 26, 2021
This is what not just the U.S. but the world is up against as far-right politicians around the world stoke fears about vaccines and tell people that covid-19 really isn’t a big deal.
The global death toll currently stands at more than 4.16 million people, according to Johns Hopkins University. But death isn’t the only consequence of this vile disease. Over 194 million people have contracted covid-19, with many suffering severe health effects for months after supposedly recovering from the illness.
If you still haven’t gotten vaccinated, it’s not too late. Just visit vaccines.gov to find out where you can get yours. It’s completely free.
