The investigation compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key metrics, including the rates of COVID-19 transmission, positive testing, hospitalizations, and death, as well as what portion of the eligible population is vaccinated. The results put Connecticut in first place for its remarkably high vaccination rate along with very low positive tests, hospitalizations, and deaths. Idaho, on the other hand, ranked at the very bottom, with only about 42 percent of its population fully vaccinated (compared with 56.6 percent nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]). Hospitals in the state recently have been so overwhelmed that they have had to ration healthcare, as NPR reported on September 16. “Vaccination is a key factor in keeping people safe during COVID-19, and vaccine skepticism could play an important part in these results,” said the WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez. Other states in the top 10 for safety are Massachusetts, California, Rhode Island, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Vermont, New Jersey, and Florida. Along with Idaho, the bottom 10 included West Virginia, Wyoming, Montana, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Indiana. The analysis also weighed safety according to political party affiliation and determined that “blue” states were about twice as safe overall compared with “red” states. In an interview with WalletHub Gerald E. Daniels Jr., PhD, the associate director of undergraduate studies with the department of economics at Howard University in Washington, DC, stressed that the current U.S. economic recovery is tied to resolving the health crisis created by COVID-19. “As the share of the vaccinated population continues to increase, I anticipate a continued improvement of economic conditions,” said Dr. Daniels. Joanne Song McLaughlin, PhD, the director of undergraduate studies and an associate professor in the department of economics at the State University of New York in Buffalo, underscored the importance of vaccinations in not only making states safer but revitalizing their economies. “I think any policies that create incentives to have people get their vaccines would help,” she said. “For example, employers can accommodate their employees so that they can get vaccinated and recover from any possible immune response; raise the awareness of the importance of vaccination; and educate the public about negative externalities they create if they do not get vaccinated.” On top of vaccinations, David F. Merrick, the director of the emergency management and homeland security program at the Center for Disaster Risk Policy in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Florida State University in Tallahassee, told WalletHub that other standard measures of virus protection are still essential at this stage to stay safe. “Everyone should continue to socially distance and wear masks as recommended by the CDC,” he said. “These simple measures will enable our communities to handle the back half of this pandemic as vaccines roll out.”
