COVID-19 Vaccination and Decreased Death Rates: A County-Level Study in
Pennsylvania
Abstract
Introduction: In this paper we examine the
relationship between vaccination against COVID-19 and both the death
rate from COVID-19 and the rate of COVID-19 spread. Our goal is
determine if vaccination is associated with reduced death and/or spread
of disease at the local level. Methods: This
analysis was conducted at the county level in the state of Pennsylvania,
United States of America, with data that were collected during the first
half of 2022 from the state of Pennsylvania’s Covid Dashboard
([COVID-19 Data for Pennsylvania
(pa.gov)](https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/pages/cases.aspx)
. Result s: Given that, during this
time period, the vaccines being used were not geared specifically toward
the common variants at that time, we found no statistically significant
relationship between disease spread and vaccination rate at the county
level. That said, we did find a highly statistically significant
relationship between death rate and vaccination rate (p-value = 0.006).
Specifically, a 1% increase in vaccination rate was found to correspond
to a 0.751% decrease in death rate (95% confidence interval (0.236%,
1.266%)). Conclusions: These results support
previous findings from across the world that Covid vaccination is highly
efficacious in preventing death from the disease. Even during a time
when vaccine design was not optimally matched with the prevailing
strains, vaccination was found to reduce death rate. Hence, improving
global vaccine availability is vitally important, in order to achieve
necessary outcomes.