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
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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.
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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

�From early in the pandemic, following the rhetoric of then-President
Trump, Republicans have consistently not been as concerned about the
dangers of COVID-19, and they have been more skeptical of medical advice
about preventing its spread,� ??Masket said. �Democratic leaders have
consistently expressed more concern about the disease and Democratic
voters have largely followed suit.�

Last fall, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that the increase in
infections caused by the delta variant surge resulted in a jump in
perceived risk of catching the virus, from 29% in late June to 47% in
September. However, only 39% expressed worries about the consequences of
infection.

Political partisanship influenced pandemic-related health decisions,
beliefs and behavior, including �one's attitude towards public health
measures � like masking � became a signifier of political and cultural
identity,� Adrian Bardon, a professor of philosophy at Wake Forest
University explained.
PHOTO: A woman passes by photographs of the graduating class of 2020 in
front of James Madison High School, May 27, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough
of New York.
A woman passes by photographs of the graduating class of 2020 in front of
James Madison High School, May 27, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New
York.
Mark Lennihan/AP, FILE

While most states imposed restrictions on gatherings and businesses,
issuing stay-at-home orders and masking mandates, in an effort to curb the
spread of infections, a number of states moved to ease restrictions and
masking requirements soon after the first wave abated in 2020.

Eleven states � all of which are led by Republican governors � never
issued a statewide masking mandate.

These restrictions, along with the masks and vaccine mandates, had made a
significant difference in protecting people from infections, Peter
Jacobson, professor emeritus of health law and policy at the University of
Michigan School of Public Health, told ABC News.

�In easing these restrictions earlier, more people were going to be
exposed,� Jacobson said. �The blue states took this entire outbreak more
seriously� You can't underestimate the messages that were being sent to
the public.�

Tens of millions of Americans remain unvaccinated

A November 2021 study published in the National Institute of Medicine�s
National Library of Medicine, found that �politicization has undoubtedly
contributed to hesitancy toward uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.�

The red and blue gap in COVID-19 vaccination totals was preceded and
predicted by a red and blue gap in belief in the seriousness of the
incipient pandemic, Bardon said.