Sunday, July 11, 2021

Undervaccinated clusters threaten the US

Don't get me wrong, many of the lies perpetuated in AZ may threaten the US (see: fraudit), but lies about vaccines may not be one of them.  At least, they're not at the top of the list.


From CNN -

Five undervaccinated clusters put the entire United States at risk


A new data analysis identifies clusters of unvaccinated people, most of them in the southern United States, that are vulnerable to surges in Covid-19 cases and could become breeding grounds for even more deadly Covid-19 variants.

The analysis by researchers at Georgetown University identified 30 clusters of counties with low vaccination rates and significant population sizes. The five most significant of those clusters are sprawled across large swaths of the southeastern United States and a smaller portion in the Midwest.
The five clusters are largely in parts of eight states, starting in the east in Georgia and stretching west to Texas and north to southern Missouri. The clusters also include parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee, and are made up of mostly smaller counties but also cities such as Montgomery, Alabama; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Amarillo, Texas.

[snip]











Know what those clusters all have in common?  I mean aside from being in red states that are subject to R misinformation?


They're mostly in places designated as Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs).  That's almost certainly not the only reason most covid clusters are located in MUAs, but not having enough folks to push back against the misinformation is probably a contributing factor.


From the website of the Health Resources and Services Administration (it's part of HHS)-

Medically Underserved Areas/Populations are areas or populations designated by HRSA as having too few primary care providers, high infant mortality, high poverty or a high elderly population. 

From HRSA's mapping tool; compare the MUAs to CNN's clusters -










To be fair, most of AZ is a MUA -











Of course, MUAs aren't restricted to un- and under-populated areas of AZ.  Metro Phoenix -










Know what area in metro Phoenix doesn't have any MUAs?


Scottsdale.

















In other words, follow the money.  Doctors, and other health care providers, are business people too, just with medical training.  They're going to go where they can most benefit financially.  Don't believe that?


Look at New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the Union.  Makes AZ look like a hotbed of medicine.












Why aren't AZ and NM home to one of the clusters?


IMHO, it's because AZ, while a red state, has most of it's population concentrated in non-MUA areas and that NM, while poor and mostly in a MUA, is a blue state.


I guess this is all a long-winded way of saying


GET VACCINATED!



1 comment:

Thane Eichenauer said...

48% of the US is fully vaccinated according to the CDC. 52% of the US might make not survive.
Of course, it might not be a great idea to make medical decisions based on what one media outlet says because they aren't exactly the most staffed by the most sober and prudent of people.
If accurate, 48% of people in the US are fully vaccinated.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations