With vaccines preventing 4 to 5 million deaths worldwide per year according to the World Health Organization, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s States that Vaccinate the Most, as well as expert commentary. According to the researchers, Arizona is 2023’s third least vaccinated state (ranking all 50 states and the District of Columbia).
LEARN MORE: Arizona COVID-19 cases double since June as virus rebounds in state
In order to find out which states vaccinate most, WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics, ranging from the share of vaccinated children to the share of people without health insurance to the flu vaccination rate among adults.
Vaccinations are some of the most valuable contributions to modern medicine. They have drastically reduced the prevalence of certain diseases, including polio, tetanus, measles and chicken pox. One disease, smallpox, has even been eradicated completely, with no natural cases since 1977. Most recently, we developed a vaccine for COVID-19, which drastically cut down cases and deaths, and allowed the country to get back to normalcy.
Vaccines are most effective when a large portion of the population gets them, so it’s important to make sure people are educated on the importance of vaccines and how much good they have done for public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccines prevent around 4 to 5 million deaths per year. Vaccines are also very safe, and according to the WHO, “so few deaths can plausibly be attributed to vaccines that it is hard to assess the risk statistically.”
Some states are better than others when it comes to vaccinating. In order to see where people are most responsible about getting vaccines, WalletHub examined the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics. Our data set ranges from the share of vaccinated children to the share of people without health insurance to the presence of reported measles outbreaks.
Vaccination in Arizona (1=Best; 25=Avg.):
- 39th – Influenza Vaccination Rate in Children Aged 6 Months to 17 Years Old
- 31st – Share of Teenagers Aged 13-17 with Up-To-Date HPV Vaccination
- 30th – Share of Teenagers Aged 13-17 with Men ACWY Vaccination
- 43rd – Flu Vaccination Coverage Rate Among Adults
- 40th – Share of Adults with Tetanus Vaccination
- 29th – Share of Adults Aged 60 and Older with Zoster Vaccination
- 26th – Share of Children 19-35 Months old Living in Poverty with Combined 7-Vaccine Series
- 42nd – Share of Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population without Health Insurance Coverage
Overall rank for Arizona: 49th
For the full report, visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-that-vaccinate-the-most/66237
