Comparing Vaccine Numbers: How to understand sources that rank states based on vaccine administration.

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The overall goal of COVID-19 vaccine distribution is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. While it’s certainly not a competition, there are several internet sites that show how different states rank in comparison to each other with vaccine distribution. These sites can be helpful to find successes and room for growth. However, it’s important to realize that each site uses different metrics to measure distribution (such as different population estimates or only using the percentage of vaccine allocated). This can result in a higher or lower ranking, depending on which site you frequent.

For example, the CDC’s vaccine tracker site uses vaccination rates per 100,000 population for those 18 years and older. The populations used to calculate these rates don’t include those who are 16 or 17 years of age, but who are currently eligible for the vaccine. This gives Utah a disadvantage in terms of rankings because our younger population isn’t taken into account. In his March 11 COVID-19 situation briefing, Governor Spencer Cox addressed this discrepancy saying that is an unfair comparison for states like Utah that have younger populations. 

States are allocated vaccines from the federal government based on the percentage of adults 18 years and older in their population. Utah has a disproportionately young population (about 30% of our population is younger than 18), and gets less vaccine per capita compared to older states. The population in Utah eligible for the vaccine (ages 16+) makes up only about 0.84% of the U.S. population. Hence, we receive 0.84% of the vaccines in the U.S. The population estimates used by the federal government to determine vaccine allocations are a few years old, which means we aren’t allocated as much vaccine as if a newer population estimate was available to use. 

“The formula is fair, the formula is based on adult population,” said Cox. “States that are fast growing states will be disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to the amount of vaccines that are coming to us.”

Also, only about 12% of Utah’s population is older than 65, which means when you look at trackers like this New York Times map, Utah appears to be falling behind. Again, Utah has the youngest population in the nation which impacts how we compare to older states when you look at vaccine distribution by population rates.

Other sites use a ranking system based on the percentage of vaccines administered which shows Utah is doing really well. We focus our efforts on getting vaccines in arms as quickly as possible, most often within 7 days of receiving doses from the federal government. As of Friday, March 19, 2021, the Becker Hospital Review ranked Utah 11th in the country in terms of vaccine administration, with about 84% of our total vaccines being used. (Our state’s data dashboard shows us having administered 85% of our total vaccines received for this same date.) For comparison, the state with the highest percentage was New Mexico with about 88% of their total vaccines administered. States will fluctuate in terms of this ranking, depending on the day and how quickly data is reported by the site. 

Long story short, don’t get too caught up in any one of these measures. Each has pros and cons and what is really important is getting vaccines into arms as quickly as possible. With Governor Cox opening up vaccine eligibility to all Utahns age 16 and older starting on March 24th, we are well on our way to ending this pandemic and getting our lives back.

For example, the CDC’s vaccine tracker site only uses vaccination, which doesn’t include those who are 16 or 17 but who are currently eligible for the vaccine in the rate. In his March 11 COVID-19 situation briefing, Governor Spencer Cox addressed this discrepancy saying that is an unfair comparison for states like Utah that have younger populations. Utah has the youngest population in the nation, which impacts our rates.

Another problem is that the data the federal government uses to allocate vaccines for the adult population is based on data that is already a few years old. Utah is the fastest growing state in the nation, meaning those numbers don’t accurately reflect Utah’s current adult population.

“The formula is fair, the formula is based on adult population,” said Cox. “States that are fast growing states will be disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to the amount of vaccines that are coming to us.”

Additionally, Utah has a disproportionately young population (about 30% of our population is younger than 18), and gets less vaccine per capita than comparatively older states. The population in Utah eligible for the vaccine (16+) makes up only about 0.84% of the U.S. population. Also, only about 12% of Utah’s population is over 65, which means when you look at trackers like this New York Times map, Utah appears to be falling behind compared the percent of people who have received vaccinations.

Other sites that use a ranking system look at the percentage of vaccines administered which shows Utah is doing really well. We focus our efforts on getting vaccines in arms as quickly as possible, most often within 7 days of receiving doses from the federal government. We have used about 84% of our total vaccines. This data places Utah in the top 10 states for vaccine administration.


Utah keeps track of all our vaccination efforts. That data can be found on our case counts dashboard under the “vaccines” tab.