Where the Delta Wave Has Driven Up Covid-19 Vaccinations – The New York Times

After weeks of stagnation, the United States vaccination campaign has had a relatively successful month, with vaccine uptake rising from early-summer lows in every state in the country.

The upswing in vaccinations has come alongside an extended, and much more pronounced, increase in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States over the past two months. Public health officials say that in their communities, residents have been driven to get the vaccine by worries that the more-transmissible Delta variant might make them, or their loved ones, sick.

The reason why weve seen the marked increase in demand is fear, its the Delta variant, said Robert Ator, the retired National Guard colonel who runs Arkansas vaccination effort.

The increase in vaccinations has been especially pronounced in states where immunization levels were (and remain) below the national average of 61 percent. Many of those states have felt the effects of the Delta-led fourth wave most acutely.

Percent of total population vaccinated by Aug. 21

Pct. point increase in people vaccinated

+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12

Public health officials said that some areas with lower vaccine coverage, especially rural ones, just hadnt been severely affected by the virus until the Delta surge.

Some communities are seeing Covid close up now, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, the secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Theyve seen it on the news, but thats not the same as seeing it close up.

That proximity is driving behavior change across the country.

The virus is coming to visit these communities and they are starting to feel the pinch, said Colonel Ator. When they start seeing their friends and families being affected by this, then it becomes a reality.

States that have seen larger increases in new cases since their early-summer nadirs, such as Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, tend to be those with bigger increases in new vaccinations.

0 +1,000% +2,000% +3,000% Increase in weekly new cases50%0+100%+200%Decrease in vaccinationsIncrease in vaccinations

Wash.Ill.Calif.Ariz.Mass.Wis.TexasNeb.UtahOre.Fla.N.Y.R.I.Ga.N.H.N.C.N.J.Colo.Md.Nev.Tenn.HawaiiInd.Ky.Minn.Okla.Pa.S.C.D.C.Kan.Mo.Vt.Va.Conn.IowaLa.OhioMich.S.D.Ark.Del.Miss.N.M.N.D.Wyo.AlaskaMaineAla.IdahoMont.W.Va.

Note: Not all states had hit their lowest weekly vaccinations in early June, when Delta was on the verge of becoming dominant, and some only had mild growth in late July and August. As a result, these states may show a decrease in vaccinations in this analysis.

Some of the recent rise in immunizations is due to teens and tweens who are heading back to school, but the bulk of the increase is from working-age Americans, public health officials say and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms.

And while new vaccinations may be flattening now overall in the U.S., health officials do not expect them to return to previous lows any time soon, especially after the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine on Monday. That move is likely to spur new vaccinations, in ways both direct 31 percent of unvaccinated people surveyed in a June poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicated they would be more open to getting the jab once a vaccine was fully approved and indirect, as it sets the stage for new vaccine requirements by organizations including corporations, hospitals and colleges.

While the uptick in new vaccinations first doses has been the subject of particular interest, total vaccine doses, comprising first and second jabs, have been on the rise as well. They will likely continue to increase as third doses complicate the picture.

The F.D.A. this month opened eligibility for third shots for some people with weakened immune systems. And last week, the Biden administration strongly recommended that Americans who received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccines get a booster shot eight months after their second vaccine dose. If the F.D.A. approves that recommendation, boosters will be available starting in late September.

However, there is evidence that about 1.2 million people in the U.S. may have already received unauthorized additional doses before these announcements were made, according to the C.D.C.

MississippiMiss.

+2,611%926 25,102

+227%16,453 53,746

+1134 45

LouisianaLa.

+1,381%2,373 35,139

+183%26,277 74,337

+1236 48

ArkansasArk.

+930%1,528 15,737

+159%15,174 39,324

+1240 52

AlabamaAla.

+1,732%1,738 31,845

+142%33,241 80,455

+1236 48

TennesseeTenn.

+1,163%2,765 34,921

+139%31,593 75,428

+840 48

GeorgiaGa.

+1,780%2,829 53,172

+139%79,530 189,795

+941 50

OklahomaOkla.

+1,746%842 15,542

+130%19,578 45,000

+1042 52

UtahUtah

+274%1,946 7,273

+129%20,193 46,297

+946 55

North CarolinaN.C.

+1,103%3,128 37,621

+128%45,733 104,335

+1044 54

WyomingWyo.

+388%492 2,399

+86%3,584 6,661

+638 44

South CarolinaS.C.

+2,858%857 25,346

+85%32,157 59,397

+941 50

IdahoIdaho

+576%723 4,887

+57%8,760 13,783

+538 43

KentuckyKy.

+1,326%1,582 22,554

+44%39,784 57,269

+947 56

North DakotaN.D.

+491%248 1,465

+39%3,449 4,797

+443 47

Rhode IslandR.I.

+860%221 2,121

+33%8,689 11,552

+862 70

New MexicoN.M.

+814%572 5,227

+32%17,500 23,072

+1058 68

IowaIowa

+945%569 5,944

+25%16,726 20,951

+550 55

KansasKan.

+970%761 8,141

+20%20,677 24,888

+947 56

FloridaFla.

+1,325%11,454 163,197

+19%242,288 287,284

+1250 62

MinnesotaMinn.

+634%1,186 8,705

+10%36,416 39,900

+655 61

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Where the Delta Wave Has Driven Up Covid-19 Vaccinations - The New York Times