Graph shows how US COVID-19 spikes track strongly with the places where people are refusing vaccinations
- COVID-19 cases are falling in places where most people are vaccinated, The Washington Post found.
- The opposite is true in many Western and Southern states where vaccination rates are lower.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 43.7% of the US population is fully vaccinated.
Coronavirus cases in the US are largely rising in areas that have lower vaccination rates, a Washington Post analysis found.
Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Post produced a quadrant graph that shows the number of COVID-19 cases dropping in most states where majorities of people have been vaccinated and increasing in many areas where they haven't been:
Some 43.7% of the US population has been fully vaccinated - meaning they have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot or both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine - and 52.5% has received at least one dose, the CDC said.
Vaccination rates are lower in many Southern and Western states, the data shows.
Experts told The Post they were concerned about what would happen in these areas as people mingled. All US states have loosened or removed their coronavirus restrictions over the past few weeks.
The total number of COVID-19 deaths reported in the US is expected to pass 600,000 this week.