Hospitals Fill Up Again in Undervaccinated U.S. States

Hospitals in some U.S. states with low vaccination rates, for example Louisiana, are filling up once more with coronavirus patients infected with the Delta variant.

A comparison of hospitalization data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and vaccination numbers collected by Our World in Data shows that hospitalizations tend to be significantly higher in U.S. states where large numbers of unvaccinated people remain.

Out of the five least vaccinated states according to Our World in Data and 2020 numbers by the U.S. Census Bureau, four experienced elevated levels of hospitalizations. Louisiana, where more than 60 percent remain unvaccinated, had the second-highest level of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the nation at 520 for every million of population. Alabama and Mississippi, where around two-thirds are not fully vaccinated yet, were close behind with 446 and 473 coronavirus patients in the hospital per one million people. Despite low vaccination rates, the situation was less tense in sparsely populated Wyoming.

Florida, where just around half of the population is not fully vaccinated, is currently experiencing the highest number of hospitalized COVID patients at 648 per million people. The best vaccinated states, located on the East Coast, did not experience such dangerous surges of coronavirus infections. Despite also having between 34 and 40 percent of unvaccinated residents, hospital admissions stayed in the low to mid double digits.