Key takeaways:
Factors like household income, insurance status, education, Internet access, and family dynamics may be leading to differences in state COVID-19 vaccination rates.
These factors should be addressed as we work to vaccinate as many people as possible.
Since January, when the vaccine roll out began, researchers have dove into the relationship between vaccine rates and factors like race and income, and unfortunately, gaps exist. Specifically, communities of color have received a disproportionately smaller number of vaccines, and lower-income communities lag behind.
But what about the less-discussed forms of privilege? Like the structural privilege of having access to reliable Internet, or the support of a partner, or the privilege of affording higher education? According to new research from GoodRx, these factors matter, too, when it comes to getting vaccinated.
Many focus on vaccine hesitancy, and the political factors behind hesitancy, but we should also pay attention to the privilege of accessing a vaccine.
Below we examine five overlooked factors that may be driving differences in state vaccine rates: single-family households, Internet access, education, insurance status, and household income.
Vaccine rates and family characteristics
Let’s start with households. States with a higher proportion of single-parent households have lower rates of vaccinations, and this divide is especially seen in states in the South, like Mississippi and Louisiana. In Mississippi, 41% of households are single-parent, and in turn only 33% of the population is vaccinated. Conversely, in New Jersey, 27% of households are single-parent, while vaccine rates remain high at 56%.
Few acknowledge the privilege of a partner. From having someone to aid in childcare, to the complexities of balancing a family and employment on top of other difficulties in life, raising a child as a single-parent can make life more challenging. And these challenges can extend into finding time to enroll in a vaccine slot, or wait in line at a mass vaccination site.
Vaccine rates and Internet access
Reliable Internet access has been necessary to sign up for a vaccine appointment slot. Early on in the inoculation rollout, new appointments were released at odd hours and were snapped up in minutes. Only the most tech-savvy could secure the coveted spot.
Beyond accessing a vaccine slot, Internet access can be necessary for finding reliable sources of information about the vaccine or its side effects, which can further deepen privilege gaps.
As such, states with a larger proportion of households without Internet access have lower rates of vaccinations. Again, states like Mississippi and Arkansas stand out.
Vaccine rates and education
Finding the time and money to access an education is a privilege that is also associated with vaccine rates. In general, states with a higher proportion of residents with a bachelor’s degree have higher rates of vaccinations. Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama have a lower proportion of residents with a bachelor’s degree and trail other states in vaccinations.
Vaccine rates and insurance status
Even though the COVID-19 vaccine is free to everyone, including those without insurance, states with higher proportions of uninsured residents (such as Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas) have lower inoculation rates.
While residents without insurance have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, a lack of insurance status is a barrier that is linked to reduced preventative care in general.
Vaccine rates and household income
Probably one of the more well-researched relationships is the one between household income and COVID-19 vaccination rates. Researchers across the country have seen that wealthier neighborhoods have higher vaccination rates in general.
Our data shows similar trends — states with higher median household income tend to have higher vaccination rates. For instance, in states like Mississippi and Arkansas, where median household incomes hover around $45,000, only about 30% percent of the population has been fully vaccinated. In contrast, the median household income in Maryland, Connecticut, and New Jersey is above $70,000, and vaccine rates are high.
We are getting to a point where those that are vaccinated can return to “normal.” But is normal enough when only the privileged can experience it?
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Co-contributors: Sasha Guttentag, PhD, Jeroen van Meijgaard, PhD
Methodology
Data on vaccination rates by state was gathered from the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker. The data used in this analysis was from May 17, 2021. State-level variables for percentage of single-family households, percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree, percentage of households without Internet, uninsured percentage, and median household income were all gathered from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2019 5-year estimates.
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