Thread by @ashishkjha

As of today,

4 "green" states on @CovidActNow map

3 New England states & South Dakota!

Why green? Because they have very low numbers of infections

How? Largely from population immunity

Lets compare VT and SD -- two states that took different paths to get here

Thread

Vermont and South Dakota are actually very similar

Both have slightly older, white, rural populations

Have comparable median incomes

Both have Republican governors

And these days, they look super similar on infections

Here they are over past 2 months

2/5

But here's where they diverge

Vermont has vaccinated (1+ shot) nearly 75% of its population

SD? 50%

Vermont has a high degree of immunity through vaccinations

So how does SD have high population immunity?

Prior infections

Here's how pandemic has played out in both states

And you can see it in the suffering of the people of the two states

Deaths per capita from COVID in VT vs SD

Nearly 6 times as many folks in SD died from COVID as VT

40/100K in VT versus 230/100K in South Dakota

So both states have landed at high population immunity

Good

But SD got there by having close to 50% of folks infected

And suffering high death rates during the fall and winter months

So yes vaccines or infections work for population immunity

One is much better

End