Thread by @ashishkjha

Tempting to look at vaccinations in US by states

And it makes sense: states have a lot of control over vaccination sites, outreach, etc

But there's ton of variation within states

So let's talk Massachusetts, a super high vaccination state

Its a tale of two cities

Thread

Lets look at two of the larger cities in Massachusetts

Springfield and Newton

Springfield 3rd largest with a population of 150K

Newton 11th largest with a population of 91K

Difference in vaccination rates between them?

Stunning

So let's go to the numbers

2/5

Springfield:

12% of kids aged 12-15 with at least 1 shot
55% of people over 20
64% of people over 30

Newton:

64% of kids aged 12-15
93% of people over 20
99% of people over 30

That's not a typo. 99% of people over 30!!

3/6

Springfield's numbers below national average

About the rate of Oklahoma -- which is ranked 39th in the nation

Newton's numbers are through the roof

Only reason they aren't higher among 20-29 year olds is a lot of colleges where students are remote

4/6

So what explains the difference?

Springfield:
19% with a bachelor's degree or more
$21K per capita income
27% poverty
60% Black or Latino

Newton:

79% with bachelor's or more
$73K per capita income
4% poverty
8% Black or Latino

5/7

These are stunning differences

Within Massachusetts, we have communities with vaccination rates comparable to Oklahoma

And communities that far exceed Vermont

Its NOT random which communities

Differences largely driven by education, income, race -- all related to access

6/7

So its good to look at vaccinations by states

But there are a TON of within-state variations

So if you are in a high vaccination state,

Your job is not done

Because across America

There are too many people and communities for whom vaccines still remain out of reach

End