A CDC study shows that 99.5% of recent coronavirus deaths have been in unvaccinated patients, Yahoo News reports, with new cases centered on counties and communities in the South and the Midwest. In Northeastern and Western states, where vaccination rates are comparatively high, little vaccination spread is seen.
“We are seeing that communities and counties that have high vaccine coverage and low case rates are getting back to normal,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said during a briefing of the White House pandemic response team.
The study found that in 93% of the 173 counties with the highest infection rates–those with more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population–fewer than 40% of the residents were vaccinated.
The Delta variant now accounts for more than 50% of the new cases found in the United States, and 80% of the new cases in the Mountain West specifically.
“Low vaccination rates in these counties coupled with high case rates and lax mitigation policies that do not protect those who are unvaccinated from disease will certainly and sadly lead to more unnecessary suffering, hospitalizations and, potentially, death,” Walensky said.