West Virginia and South Dakota residents are more likely to have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from the Center for Disease Control.
The CDC website is tracking the number of vaccine doses distributed in each state and the number of people who received the first dose of the two approved vaccines. The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine requires two doses, ideally distributed 21 days apart, while the second dose of Moderna vaccine should be administered 28 days after the first.
The new figures give an indication of how the vaccine is being implemented and the likelihood that residents in certain states have received the vaccine. West Virginia vaccinated 2,178 people per 100,000 by December 30 and was followed closely by South Dakota, where 2,089 people per 100,000 received their first dose.
Kansas is currently behind all other states, with just 418 initial vaccinations per 100,000 on December 30.
Vaccinations in Ohio stood at 434 per 100,000, Mississippi at 472 per 100,000 and Georgia at 480 per 100,000 on New Year’s Eve.
New York and California, two of the states hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, had similar vaccination numbers.
California’s initial vaccination rate was 745 per 100,000, while New York was slightly behind with 723 doses per 100,000. States with larger populations will obviously require more doses of the vaccine. The ultimate goal is for the number of people vaccinated to reach critical mass.
The CDC reports that 12,409,050 doses of the vaccine have been distributed across the country so far, while 2,794,588 people received the initial vaccination on December 30. These numbers are for the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
The US surpassed 20 million COVID-19 cases this week. There were also more than 125,000 patients with the disease in US hospitals, according to CNN. California also set a new daily death record on Wednesday, when the state recorded 432 deaths.
Mass vaccination with both doses is seen as the long-term solution to the pandemic that has plagued the country. There have been more than 364,000 deaths of Americans due to the disease.
“The goal is that everyone can be vaccinated easily against COVID-19 as soon as sufficiently large quantities are available,” says the CDC on its website.
“Once the vaccine is widely available, the plan is to have several thousand vaccination providers offering COVID-19 vaccines in doctors’ offices, pharmacies, hospitals and health centers qualified by the federal government.”
The CDC is also recording vaccination rates in the United States. The Northern Mariana Islands lead all US states and territories, with 3,910 starting doses per 100,000 people on December 31. However, the islands have a population of just under 57,000.
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