After months of planning, the US government’s rollout of “warp speed” COVID-19 vaccines instead progressed at a snail’s pace, threatens to extend local lockdowns and increase the death toll of viruses in America.
Just a month after the effort – the biggest inoculation push in U.S. history – some states are moving quickly to vaccinate their populations, according to government data reviewed by CBS MoneyWatch. Other parts of the country are lagging far behind.
West Virginia has distributed nearly 90% of its stock from the first vaccination shot and is expected to finish vaccinating nurses with two doses by the end of January. Firefighters, police, and EMTs in the state – one of the poorest in the country – have also been almost completely vaccinated.
Many other states are struggling to get their vaccination efforts off the ground. In total less than a third of all doses distributed across the country (and into US territories), or 10.3 million of the nearly 30 million, have been given to humans.
CBS MoneyWatch spoke with health experts, government officials, and hospital administrators in the US to find out what works – and doesn’t – in the rush to vaccinate Americans against the deadly disease. Which states manage to get doses into the arms of their residents? Which states are still struggling? And why?
Here are some of the lessons so far in America Covid-19 vaccine unroll.
States that have fallen behind
Of the most populous states in the country, Georgia, Virginia and California are the furthest behind in distributing the vaccine to residents. According to the most recent CDC data, Georgia administered less than 20% of the vaccine doses delivered to the state – the lowest percentage of any state in America.
Last week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp opened up vaccinations to residents 65 and older, as well as police and other first responders, to accelerate efforts beyond the initial pool of health workers and nursing home residents focused on the injection . For the time being, however, this is causing more problems. One website in the state scheduled vaccinations for 4 a.m., or four hours before the Atlanta shot location opens. Other vaccine planning websites have crashed.
Strict adherence to CDC guidelines that health workers be vaccinated first appears to be one of the issues facing many states that have fallen behind. For example, Virginia officials initially said the state would not move to the next stage of vaccinations until February. Although it has since moved that date, Virginia still administered less than 25% of its vaccine stock.
California, which has only administered 26% of the available vaccines in the state, also launched massive vaccination sites – including Disneyland in Anaheim – and this week made residents 65 and older eligible for vaccines.
Other lagging states relied too much on untested distribution networks, experts said. Arkansas, which CDC data shows only managed 33% of its stock of shots, included more than 200 pharmacies in its initial vaccination plans. That was a mistake, said Dr. Cam Patterson, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, who runs hospitals and treatment centers around the state.
Officials in Arkansas and some other states dispute the CDC data. Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, who leads the state’s immunization efforts, said her state had received fewer doses than the health authority says and that as of Wednesday afternoon, they had administered 41% of the vaccine they received. Dillaha also said pharmacies have had delays, noting that including them is part of the state’s long-term plan.
“We want our immunization infrastructure to be stronger than after the pandemic,” said Dillaha.
States first
Many public health experts previously warned the roll-out of the vaccine that rural parts of the US would be at a disadvantage over cities in distributing the vaccine. However, less populated states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia are among those better vaccinating their residents.
West Virginia has distributed nearly 70% of all vaccine doses it receives from the federal government, according to the latest CDC data, ranked No. 1 among states by that metric. About 110,000 vaccine doses have been given in the Mountain State, or nearly the same amount administered so far in Wisconsin, where the population is roughly tripling.
The difference: West Virginia, unlike other states, relied heavily on its National Guard to lead other government agencies in the vaccination effort, and to transport the doses as needed. It was also the only state to withdraw from a national nursing home vaccination program nationwide developed by the CDC and run by drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens, which many say is progressing slowly.
West Virginia has also vaccinated several high-risk and essential worker populations at the same time – such as residents over 70, police and firefighters, as well as those who work in key manufacturing sectors and who are 50 and older – rather than all of its health worker doses.
“We have taken 10,000 square feet of our National Guard headquarters and turned it into a command center with representatives from all levels of the state government,” said Major General James Hoyer, who retired from the National Guard earlier this month but is stayed. to continue management of West Virginia’s vaccination efforts against COVID-19 as a citizen. Young soldiers and pilots are spreading the vaccine throughout the state. We’re conducting this just like a military convoy. ‘
South Dakota took a different approach. The state partnered with its three major health networks, dividing the state and allowing medical facilities to manage distribution themselves, said Dr. David Basel, head of the vaccination effort for Avera Medical, which is based in Sioux Falls and is a of the three medical groups in the state that’s getting a vaccine.
That seems to have worked. South Dakota administered nearly 60% of the vaccine it was assigned by the US government. “Our biggest problem has been the weather,” Basel said in a week when the state faced temperatures of 20 degrees and more than one snowfall. “One of our first shipments went into a snowstorm. A truck ended up in a ditch, but we got out in time and no vaccine had gone bad. ‘
How every state is doing
The figures below are based on state and CDC data as of Jan. 13. Percentages represent the number of vaccines administered versus the number of doses each state received. The US average was 35% as of Wednesday. (In some cases, the latest CDC songs may not contain state or local data, which can delay several days.)
| State / Territory / Federal Entity | % vaccine administered |
| Alabama | 22% |
| Alaska | 26% |
| American Samoa | 24% |
| Arizona | 27% |
| Arkansas | 32% |
| Bureau of Prisons | 98% |
| California | 26% |
| Colorado | 45% |
| Connecticut | 51% |
| Delaware | 31% |
| Department of Defense | 34% |
| District of Columbia | 48% |
| Federated States of Micronesia | 6% |
| Florida | 42% |
| Georgia | 20% |
| Guam | 11% |
| Hawaii | 24% |
| Idaho | 25% |
| Illinois | 40% |
| Indian health service | 26% |
| Indiana | 36% |
| Iowa | 42% |
| Kansas | 33% |
| Kentucky | 43% |
| Louisiana | 42% |
| Maine | 42% |
| Marshall Islands | 5% |
| Maryland | 32% |
| Massachusetts | 33% |
| Michigan | 38% |
| Minnesota | 32% |
| Mississippi | 28% |
| Missouri | 31% |
| Montana | 49% |
| Nebraska | 40% |
| Nevada | 30% |
| New Hampshire | 44% |
| New Jersey | 40% |
| New Mexico | 41% |
| New York state | 35% |
| North Carolina | 31% |
| North Dakota | 61% |
| northern Mariana Islands | 22% |
| Ohio | 34% |
| Oklahoma | 43% |
| Oregon | 35% |
| Pennsylvania | 37% |
| Puerto Rico | 28% |
| Republic of Palau | 12% |
| Rhode Island | 51% |
| south Carolina | 31% |
| south Dakota | 57% |
| Tennessee | 44% |
| Texas | 49% |
| Utah | 39% |
| Vermont | 42% |
| Veterans Health | 27% |
| Virgins Islands | 12% |
| Virginia | 24% |
| Washington | 36% |
| West Virginia | 69% |
| Wisconsin | 31% |
| Wyoming | 31% |