COVID-19 Vaccination Rates In Georgia Still Among Lowest In U.S.

GEORGIA — If the United States meets President Joe Biden’s goal of 70 percent of adults vaccinated against COVID-19 by July 4, it won’t be with Georgia’s help.

In the latest rankings from the Mayo Clinic using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia ranks 43rd among 50 states for COVID-19 vaccinations, with just 33.1 percent of its residents fully vaccinated and 40.5 percent having received at least one dose.

Numbers directly from the Georgia Department of Public Health are slightly higher but similar, with 34 percent of Georgians fully vaccinated and 41 percent having received at least one dose.

Southern states generally have the worst vaccination rates, according to the Mayo Clinic numbers. These are the 10 states with the lowest vaccination rates:

50. Mississippi — 27.5 percent

49. Alabama — 29.4 percent

48. Arkansas — 31.6 percent

47. Louisiana — 31.7 percent

46. Wyoming — 32.1 percent

45. Tennessee — 32.2 percent

44. Utah — 33 percent

43. Georgia — 33.1 percent

42. Idaho — 33.2 percent

41. Oklahoma — 34 percent

Finishing just outside the 10 least vaccinated states are southern states West Virginia and South Carolina.

The states with the highest vaccination rates are all in New England, with Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire all at 50 percent or more vaccinated.

According to an analysis by The Washington Post published Sunday, fewer than 1 million COVID-19 shots are being administered in the United States every day. The peak in April was 3.4 million shots per day — and not everyone was eligible then.

Meanwhile in Georgia, only about a dozen of the state’s 159 counties have 34 percent or more of their residents vaccinated. That means a handful of mostly crowded counties are carrying the rest of the state. But while counties in and near larger cities generally have a higher percentage of residents vaccinated, there are some curve balls.

With nearly 43 percent of its residents vaccinated, Oconee County near Athens leads all 159 Georgia counties. However, Clarke County, home of the University of Georgia and Athens itself, ranks only 18th.

On metro Atlanta’s south side, affluent Fayette County ranks second with 41.3 percent of its residents vaccinated. But mostly rural Towns County — high in the north Georgia mountains — ranks third, with 38.7 percent vaccinated.

Other metro Atlanta counties, with their rankings and percentage vaccinated, are:

5. Cobb County — 37 percent

6. Forsyth County — 36.4 percent

7. Fulton County — 36 percent

10. DeKalb County — 34 percent

12. Gwinnett County — 33.7 percent

15. Cherokee County — 32.8 percent

27. Rockdale County — 30.4 percent

50. Hall County — 27.5 percent

67. Douglas County — 26.1 percent

72. Henry County — 25.7 percent

94. Barrow County — 23.8 percent

109. Clayton County — 22.7 percent

111. Paulding County — 22.7 percent

Other major metropolitan counties in Georgia are

9. Glynn County (Savannah) — 34.5 percent

51. Bibb County (Macon) — 27.3 percent

91. Muscogee County (Columbus) — 24 percent

103. Richmond County (Augusta) — 23.1 percent.

Dougherty County — home to Albany and the first major hotspot in Georgia — is ranked 38th with about 28.3 percent of its residents vaccinated. It ranks ahead of some more populous counties.

At the bottom of the list are Wheeler County with 14.2 percent, Charlton County with 12.1 percent, Chattahoochee County with 11 percent and Long County with 10.4 percent. All are in the southern half of Georgia.