The Economic Indicators Of Higher COVID-19 Vaccination Rates And Identifying Strategies To Get More People Vaccinated
Author : Ashvin Loghashankar, ashvin04@gmail.com
Cupertino High School, Cupertino, CA, United States
Advisor: Evan Brociner
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has infected more than 35 million individuals in the US, leading to more than 600 thousand deaths. The United States made the COVID-19 vaccine available to the general public in April. However, we have seen a recent increase in cases of the Delta Variant, resulting in the need to increase vaccination. There are socioeconomic factors that have been previously attributed to vaccine rates, including areas with higher minority populations having disproportionately lower vaccine rates. This paper uses a CDC county-level vaccine dataset, along with employment, education, and median income data to find correlations between these factors. Additionally, tweets from state health departments are analyzed to identify strategies to increase vaccination rates. The results indicate a positive correlation between vaccination rates and unemployment rates. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between vaccination rates and both education level and unemployment. By taking a case study within Wyoming, publishing COVID vaccine information on the county website suggests a strategy that may increase vaccination rates. The unexpected positive correlation between vaccination rates and unemployment was corroborated by a previous study by Roghani et al., 211. Further research is necessary to identify the direct causes that have led areas with higher unemployment rates to also have higher vaccination rates, as well as determining if the Wyoming Case Study results can be extended to the rest of the nation.