Alabama is the only state in the nation with fewer than 40% of eligible residents vaccinated against COVID-19.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show just 39.6% of people 12 and older in Alabama are fully vaccinated. Children younger than 12 are not currently eligible for any of the vaccines.
Mississippi is second from the bottom, with 40.1% of eligible people fully vaccinated – meaning they received both shots of a two-dose series – either Pfizer or Moderna – or one of the Johnson & Johnson shots.
Alabama had led Mississippi in overall vaccination rate for months, before being passed earlier this month.
Vaccination rates are lagging in many Southern states, and in part of the Mountain West region, even as a new surge fueled by the more contagious Delta variant is causing cases to climb throughout the nation.
Vaccinations have slowed dramatically in Alabama, hovering above 5,000 doses administered per day for all of July after seeing peaks above 34,000 doses per day in April. Meanwhile, the state’s 7-day average for new virus cases continues to rise, along with virus hospitalizations. Alabama was averaging 1,133 new cases per day as of Thursday, and hospitalizations climbed past 600 on Wednesday.