COVID-19 cases are rising in 13 U.S. states with high vaccination rates

According to the COVID-19 Data Tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a total of 118 million vaccines have administered as of March 18, 2021. Health experts unanimously agreed that the vaccination is supposed to stop the spread of the deadly virus so we can all get back to our “new normal” lives.

However, the optimism is dampened by growing concerns about the rising number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases across a dozen of states with high vaccination rates. According to the analysis of new COVID-19 cases by Axios, the largest week-over-week increases happened in states that had been praised for their vaccination diligence.

For several weeks now, the US has been reporting about 55,000 new cases per day, a level that it has plateaued over the past months (though deaths have continued to move lower). However, yesterday health authorities reported 56,900 new cases with 1,052 deaths.

According to Axios, the pace of new infections got better over the past week in 13 states but got worse in another 13 with high vaccination rates, and held steady everywhere else. For example, Michigan saw the biggest jump in new cases, at 53%. The surge in new cases from Michigan comes as a surprise considering that Michigan is above the US average in terms of its vaccination rate according to Johns Hopkins Data.

Nevada, Maryland, and Connecticut are raising concerns about whether new variants discovered in New York State, along with other variants like the Kent Strain (B117) and other international strains.

Click on the map to see the actual numbers. (Source: Axios)

The biggest improvements came in from Alabama, Arizona, California, and Georgia, each of which saw a decline of over 30% in new cases per day. Nationwide, that averaged out to a 5% drop from the week before.

Meanwhile, the state officials are blaming variants for the rise in new cases, citing a similar dynamic seen recently in Florida and New York. Other states among the highest in vaccination rates—including West Virginia, Maine, and Montana—are also dealing with case spikes. Of the 13 states with rising cases, only two – Mississippi and New Hampshire – have below-average vaccination rates.