Miranda  0:08

Hi, this is Miranda!

Sabrina  0:10

And this is Sabrina!

Miranda  0:12

And this is Supplements!

Sabrina  0:13

Your weekly health and other news podcast.

Miranda  0:18

Sabrina, where are we at with the vaccine rollout?

Sabrina  0:22

As of March 21, we are 13.3% fully vaccinated. The top four states leading the vaccination race are Alaska, New Mexico, South Dakota and North Dakota. Honestly go the Dakotas, they are doing really well.

Miranda  0:38

This week, we'll be covering more vaccine news, a new cost cutting measure in Medicare, and Asian American Pacific Islander hate crimes.

Sabrina  0:50

When comparing the vaccine rollout between different states, it was found that faster might not necessarily mean better. States that had plans that expanded eligibility too fast may have backfired where there wasn't sufficient infrastructure to meet the demands, whereas states that took a slower approach had been doing a better job and administering all the doses.

Miranda  1:20

So basically, with these states that opened up eligibility sooner, they were running out of supply, whereas the demand soared, and they had to cancel appointments or push back appointment dates for people.

Sabrina  1:37

Right, so this article uses Connecticut as an example. While only 30% of the population was eligible to book an appointment for the vaccine, it had actually been administering doses at the fourth highest rate in the country, whereas Missouri had the largest percentage of their population eligible, so 92% of their residents could book appointments. Yet the rate that the state was dispensing vaccines ranked 41 among all states.