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   XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.health.virus.cure.alternatives   
   From: nowomr@protonmail.com   
      
   For red and blue America, a glaring divide in COVID-19 death rates   
   persists 2 years later   
      
   Post-vaccine, death rates in red states were 38% higher than in blue   
   states.   
   ByArielle Mitropoulos   
   March 28, 2022, 6:32 AM   
   1:03   
      
   White House press secretary has COVID   
   White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she has tested positive for   
   COVID-19 on Tuesday, on the...   
      
   Political polarization in the U.S. was evident and intensifying long   
   before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, two years ago.   
      
   Americans were already deeply divided about a multitude of issues, with   
   differing opinions concerning healthcare, immigration, voting rights, gun   
   reform and climate change, often leaving little room for collaboration   
   across the aisle.   
      
   Polling shows that the emergence of the novel coronavirus in 2020   
   exacerbated the rift, pushing Americans further apart on key pandemic   
   response efforts.   
      
   Surveys from Pew Research Center, last year, found that in the early   
   months of the pandemic, about 6 in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning   
   independents believed the virus was a major threat to the health of the   
   U.S. population, compared to only a third of Republicans and GOP-leaning   
   independents. That 26-point gap would ultimately grow to approximately 40   
   points by the fall, researchers found.   
   MORE: Fears of COVID-19 resurgence in the US grow as officials warn of   
   potential upticks   
      
   Over the last two years, few issues have been more divisive than the   
   pandemic and related policies — from the raging debate over mask use, to   
   the ongoing push to get Americans vaccinated.   
      
   Among all factors in the prevention of severe COVID-19 and death,   
   vaccination has been key, experts say.   
      
   Unvaccinated Americans are several times more likely to be hospitalized   
   and die and those living in rural areas, as well as conservatives and   
   Republicans, were among the most hesitant to be vaccinated, according to a   
   September 2021 ABC News/Washington Post poll. For unvaccinated Americans,   
   the decision to not wear a mask or follow other restrictions, ultimately   
   caused increased transmission, which in turn, resulted in more severe   
   outcomes, experts suggest.   
      
   The end result is a gulf in COVID-19 death rates between red and blue   
   states, one that is particularly amplified when examining the most and   
   least vaccinated states.   
      
   “In the United States, COVID-19 has become a political issue, and people's   
   political beliefs strongly influence their behavior,” David Dowdy, an   
   infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of   
   Public Health, told ABC News. “Political divides in our thinking about   
   COVID are much stronger than in many other countries.”   
      
   Though politicization of the virus likely played a significant role in the   
   differing death rates, due to varying approaches to restrictions and   
   vaccination efforts, experts say, a myriad of other issues also   
   contributed, including access to adequate healthcare, and the   
   disproportionate impact of the virus on communities of color.   
      
   Vaccination rates and receptivity to mitigation measures have also been   
   influenced by factors including misinformation.   
      
   Cumulative death rates in red states 30% higher   
      
   It has been nearly a year since the COVID-19 vaccines became available to   
   every American adult last April, after initially being offered to health   
   workers and older populations, when supplies were still limited.   
      
   However, vaccination rates differ markedly between states that voted for   
   former President Donald Trump, compared to those that voted for President   
   Joe Biden, paralleling the partisan lines that have divided the country.   
      
   Data sourced from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows   
   that the 10 states with the highest vaccination rates all voted for Biden   
   in 2020, while nine of the 10 states with the lowest vaccination rates   
   voted for Trump. The lone exception was Georgia, which narrowly went for   
   Biden by less than a quarter of a percentage point.   
   MORE: Return to pre-pandemic normalcy not yet on the horizon for many   
   immunocompromised Americans   
      
   Further, cumulative death data from the C.D.C., from over the last 10   
   months, illustrates the implications of political polarization of the   
   COVID-19 vaccines.   
      
   An ABC News analysis of federal data found that on average, the death   
   rates in states that voted for Trump were more than 38% higher than in   
   states that voted for Biden, post widespread vaccine availability.   
      
   In addition, in the 10 states with the lowest percentage of full   
   vaccinations, death rates were almost twice as high as that of states with   
   the highest vaccination rates, the analysis found.   
      
   Over the span of the last 10 months, in the 10 states with the lowest   
   vaccination rates, where between 50 and 54.5% of the total population had   
   been fully vaccinated, there was an average of 153 COVID-19-related deaths   
   per 100,000 residents.   
      
   In contrast, during the same time period, the 10 states and jurisdictions   
   with the highest vaccination rates, which all voted for Biden, there was   
   an average of about 82.2 related deaths per 100,000 residents. In all 10   
   states, about 75% of residents had been fully vaccinated.   
   Death Rates Per Capita by State/Territory   
   Death Rates Per Capita by State/Territory Post-Vaccine Availability Vs.   
   Percent of Total Population Fully Immunized   
   ABC News / CDC   
      
   Vaccination and mitigation 'have become heavily partisan'   
      
   “There are a few reasons why we’re seeing such differences in death and   
   vaccination rates. The obvious one is that both vaccinations and other   
   forms of COVID-19 mitigation have become heavily partisan,” Seth Masket, a   
   professor of political science and director of the Center on American   
   Politics at the University of Denver, told ABC News.   
      
   According to experts, political polarization has led to different   
   responses and attitudes with respect to the pandemic.   
      
   While in the early months of the pandemic, many Democratic governors   
   strongly promoted stay-at-home orders, masking initiatives and other   
   mitigation measures, Trump, and some Republican governors, sought to   
   deemphasize the seriousness of the threat of the virus, prioritizing   
   instead the economy and the value of independence, Dowdy argued.   
      
   "It's going to disappear. One day -- it's like a miracle -- it will   
   disappear," Trump said in late February 2020. "The coronavirus is very   
   much under control in the USA."   
      
   Trump later admitted to veteran journalist Bob Woodward that he had indeed   
   tried to downplay the severity of the virus because he did not want to   
   create panic.   
   MORE: 2 years into pandemic, Americans still feeling deadly impact of   
   COVID-19   
      
      
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