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.
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.