The first vaccine shipments for COVID-19 were sent out to states 61 weeks ago, marking the largest vaccination campaign in history.
According to the CDC, 684,648,105 doses of the vaccine have been distributed across the country as of February 17.
Despite taking longer to distribute the vaccine initially than the federal government had anticipated, the U.S. has made tremendous strides in the race to administer vaccinations worldwide in recent months.
Under the current system, led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends states a limited supply of the vaccine in addition to funding and instructs them to distribute the vaccine according to guidelines that are relatively loose, Path reports.
Different age groups of individuals and classes of essential workers are given priority in each state’s rollout plan. Due to a combination of policies and logistical challenges across the country, vaccine rates and vaccination rates have varied widely across states.
As of February 83.1% of vaccines allocated for California residents had been administered, exceeding the national average of 80.2% and ranking 14th in the total number of vaccines distributed.
The amount of doses administered to the state’s population is 179.4%, which is higher than the national average of 167.2% and the 13th highest share among all the states.
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Meanwhile, most Americans are still not vaccinated as a result of a lack of supply, yet some have no plans to be vaccinated at all. In a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, 64.4% of Americans 18 and older who haven’t received the COVID-19 vaccine will most likely not get one in the near future.
In California, 44.5% of adults who haven’t yet received a vaccine aren’t sure or definitely won’t get the shot in the future, which is the second-lowest share in the nation. Most people are concerned about potential side effects if they don’t want a vaccine. They were also planning to wait for safety to be established, not trusting the government, and not trusting COVID-19 vaccines.
24/7 Wall St. analyzed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data to determine how states are doing with vaccine rollouts. According to the February 17 report, states’ rankings are based on the number of vaccines distributed in that state compared to the number distributed by the federal government in that state.
COVID-19 cases confirmed through February 17 are based on information collected by numerous state and local health departments.
These data were adjusted for the population using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. According to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, which was conducted from December 29, 2021, to January 10, 2022, over half of adults probably or definitely won’t get a COVID-19 vaccine.