Sharp similarities exist between COVID-19 cases, vaccination rates, and political party affiliation in the U.S.

A Pew Research Center poll in August found that 73% of adults had taken at least one dose of the vaccine, with a political divide of 86% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans who said they were at least partially vaccinated.

Out of the top 20 states in the country with the most COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, 17 of them voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, whereas 19 out of the 20 states with the last amount of COVID-19 cases voted for Joe Biden.

The sharp political divide also extends to vaccinations as every single one of the 20 states with the highest vaccination rates voted for Biden, with 17 of the 20 least vaccinated states voting for Trump.

Vaccines have proven to be effective in combating the virus but the worst of it has occurred in red areas rather than blue ones. In counties where Trump had received at least 70% of the vote, the virus had killed 47 out of 100,000 people by the end of June, according to healthcare analyst Charles Gaba. In counties where Trump won less than 32% of the vote, the death rate is only 10 out of 100,000.

As for reasons why Republicans are getting vaccinated at a lower rate than Democrats, many have stated they believe they should have the freedom to make their own decisions. The reasoning comes amid criticism that right-wing media has spread misinformation about the vaccine. Conservative media outlets have also promoted drugs such as ivermectin to treat the virus, with no medical evidence to back up their claims.

“Sometimes I feel like the education I have to provide depends on what news channel that they watch,” Dr. Alexa Mises Malchuk told the Associated Press in July, when discussing where patients receive vaccine information from.

According to the University of Georgia, 99% of COVID-19 related deaths are from people who have not been vaccinated.

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