Table of Contents
NEW YORK — With vaccines preventing 4 to 5 million deaths per year worldwide, according to the WHO, the personal-finance website WalletHub has released its report on the States that Vaccinate the Most in 2024, as well as commentary, to identify where Americans are most protected from preventable diseases.
WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics, ranging from the share of children, teens and adults vaccinated against various diseases to the share of people without health insurance.
| States that Vaccinate Most | States that Vaccinate Least | |
| 1. Rhode Island | 42. Arizona | |
| 2. Massachusetts | 43. New Jersey | |
| 3. Maine | 44. Nevada | |
| 4. Washington | 45. Wyoming | |
| 5. Maryland | 46. Florida | |
| 6. Vermont | 47. Texas | |
| 7. Minnesota | 48. Oklahoma | |
| 8. New Hampshire | 49. Kentucky | |
| 9. District of Columbia | 50. Alaska | |
| 10. Connecticut | 51. Mississippi |
Key Takeaways
- District of Columbia has the highest influenza vaccination coverage for children, which is 1.8 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest.
- Vermont has the highest share of adults with the tetanus vaccination, which is 1.6 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest.
- South Dakota has the highest share of adults aged 60 and older with the zoster vaccination, which is 2.1 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest.
- Minnesota has the highest share of children 19 to 35 months old living in poverty with the combined 7-vaccine series, which is 1.7 times higher than in California, the state with the lowest.
“Seeing as being anti vaccination has become trendy in some circles and misinformation is all over the internet, it’s more crucial now than ever to spread awareness of the benefits of vaccines and make sure as many people as possible receive potentially life-saving immunizations. The states that vaccinate the most provide the safest environments when it comes to public health, as the likelihood that the next outbreak will begin or spread there is minimized,” said Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst.
“Rhode Island is the state that vaccinates the most, ranking first in the nation when it comes to HPV vaccination among teens ages 13 to 17, and second for the flu vaccination rate among children. Rhode Island also has the second-highest share of babies under three years old who have the combined seven-vaccine series, and it requires students to be vaccinated against major diseases before attending kindergarten. When it comes to adults, the Ocean State has the second-highest flu vaccine coverage,” Lupo added.
“Confidence in vaccines is critically important. Sadly, with vaccine resistance, we are now seeing outbreaks of things like measles that we had nearly eradicated. Every year, hundreds of thousands of elders die from vaccine-preventable illnesses," said Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, professor, University of Miami.
"Over the last several decades, we made tremendous public health gains against such horrible diseases and disorders thanks to the hard work of many scientists, and now we are losing ground. We need to protect our public. Due to politics, many have lost faith in science, so we need to develop more health education around these issues and regain public confidence in science. Otherwise, we are going to be facing much worse epidemics,” Dr. Carrasquillo added.
To view the full report and full state rankings, visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-that-vaccinate-the-most/66237
