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Coping with COVID: Kan., Mo. below average in states administering first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

By Madison Parry

Data on the percentage of state populations receiving a least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine shows Kansas and Missouri are lagging. As of Jan. 13, Kansas vaccinations were at 2.70 percent and Missouri at 2.60 percent, both below the national average of 2.98 percent.

A national map tracking shares of the U.S. population that have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine reveals the Midwest is mixed when it comes to individual states’ progress.

One map from Fortune shows that on a scale from 1 percent to 6 percent (1 being a low rate of vaccination) that Missouri and Kansas fall on the lower end of the scale.

When it comes to the percentage of state populations receiving a least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Jan. 13, Kansas sits at 2.70 percent, Missouri at 2.60 percent. Both are below the national average of 2.98 percent.

Through Jan. 12, around 27.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been distributed, according to the CDC.

According to the same data, only 9.3 million of the 27.7 does had actually been administered, most given to frontline workers, healthcare professionals and nursing home residents as highlighted in most states’ phase 1 vaccination plan.

The lowest rated state nationally as of Jan. 13 in getting out the first vaccine dose is Arkansas, at 1.4 percent.

Most states have fallen in the middle, between 2 and 3 percent. The highest rate of vaccination is in West Virginia, at 5.8 percent.