Vaccinations are preventing 4 to 5 million deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization.
WalletHub’s latest report on 2022’s States that Vaccinate the Most analyzed all 50 states and Washington, D.C. across 17 metrics, including the share of vaccinated children, share of people without health insurance and flu vaccination rates among adults.
The most vaccinated state is Massachusetts, followed by Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine. Mississippi has the honor of the least vaccinated, followed by Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana.
The highest influenza vaccination coverage for children is in Massachusetts at 83.60 percent, which is 1.9 times higher than in Mississippi at 42.90 percent.
The highest share of adults vaccinated against tetanus is in Minnesota with 82.60 percent, which is 1.5 times higher than the lowest of 53.50 percent in New Jersey.
South Dakota has the most adults aged 60 and older vaccinated against zoster with 55.10 percent. The lowest zoster vaccination rate is 26 percent in Mississippi.
Lastly, Minnesota has the highest number of children, ages 19 to 35 months, living in poverty with the combined 7-vaccine series at 84.30 percent. The lowest rate is 50.70 in California.
Experts have tips on countering the current anti-vaccination trend in the United States.
“The most important step authorities can take in order to ensure wide vaccination compliance is to enforce existing laws that mandate diphtheria, tetanus, DTaP, IPV, MMR, and varicella vaccination as a condition for enrolment and attendance at childcare facilities and schools, University of Arizona Associate Professor Purnima Madhivanan said in a press release. “Schools and public health authorities can do more than just mandate and enforce vaccination requirements. They should also actively advocate for the adoption of vaccination. School systems should send reminders to parents each school year that children should be vaccinated against HPV, influenza and COVID-19.”
Madhivanan said that it is important for parents to understand the effectiveness and safety of vaccinations for their children, and schools should provide in-school vaccination programs.
Dr. Tatiana Bailey, Director of UCCS Economic Forum and Assistant Professor Attendant Rank at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, is a big advocate for widespread, positive and fact-driven public health messaging.
“Today, that is more essential than ever due to the misinformation and ubiquitous nature of social media falsities,” Bailey said in the press release. “It seems too simple, but I believe it is undervalued how powerful good widespread messaging can be. Show the stats on how many people are in the hospital with a disease that can be prevented with vaccination, interview a runner with long COVID on oxygen who has not worked out in two years, and talk to a family who has lost someone. Advertise locations for quick and easy vaccination. Then blast it everywhere on social media, billboards, TV sports games, etc. Get celebrity endorsements. Counter the negativity with facts.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
