April 6, 2021
Today’s report from ADPH shows only 196 new cases (incl. 77 probables), the lowest number of daily cases for a weekday since last spring. Over the last week, Alabama has seen an average of 328 confirmed cases, which is the 3rd fewest confirmed cases per capita (47 per 100K) among all the states and D.C. during the same period. Only California (44 per 100K) and Arkansas (36 per 100K) have had fewer cases per capita over the past week than Alabama.
Alabama’s per capita hospitalization rate of 8 per 100K population is not the lowest in the nation. That honor belongs to Hawaii, whose rate is 4 per 100K. But, our rate is a fraction of the per capita rates in Michigan (33 per 100K), New York (27 per 100K) and New Jersey (26 per 100K). On January 4, Alabama witnessed 1,057 new Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals in a single day; today, that number has dropped to 37. That is a 97% decline in 3 months. Words cannot express the sense of relief that comes from writing that sentence.
In the last week in the United States, an average of 3.05 million doses per day were administered, a 11% increase over the week before. It is a testament to the progress in vaccine distribution that President Biden announced today that he is moving up the deadline for states to make all adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine to April 19. According to the NY Times, only 7 states plan to wait even that long to make vaccines available to everyone over the age of 16.
For Alabama, universal eligibility began yesterday. In the last week, an average of 28.5K doses per day were administered, a 6% increase over the week before. Alabama has administered at least one dose to 1,267,859 people, covering 32.2% of the eligible population, 16 and older, and 25.9% of the State’s entire population. At least 725,270 people have been fully vaccinated, or 14.8% of the State’s population.
If Alabama does witness a surge in new cases, it seems clear that certain rural, mostly white counties where vaccine resistance is strongest will lead the way. It is seemingly no coincidence that Winston County, which is 97% white, has the lowest vaccination rate in the State - 7%. In fact, in a state that is 27% black, 6 of the 7 counties with vaccination rates below 10% also have among the lowest black populations in the State - Winston (1% black), Blount (2% black), DeKalb (2% black), St. Clair (9% black), Chilton (10% black), and Shelby (12% black). On the other hand, of the 9 counties with the highest vaccination rates, 7 of them - Hale, Wilcox, Choctaw, Perry Clarke, Marengo and Macon - have majority black populations.
In future generations, historians will search for the reasons why the United States, with 4% of the world’s population and 20% of the world’s deaths, was so ill-prepared for this pandemic. If those historians examine Alabama, they will observe that the same racial and political divide that defines vaccine acceptance has influenced other forms of personal behavior, such as mask-wearing. Looking back over the last 12 months, they will conclude that so much of the suffering and death could have been avoided, if only such behavior had not become politicized. Tragically, in Alabama, when an issue becomes politicized, race is usually at the heart of it. The totals:
3/24- 922
3/25- 427
3/26- 442
3/27- 492
3/28- 319
3/29- 228
3/30- 361
3/31- 408
4/1 - 478
4/2 - 400
4/3 - 349
4/4 - 194
4/5 - 109
4/6 - 196