Correlations in COVID-19 vaccination rates and political leaning in Pennsylvania

This article is a comparative examination of the COVID-19 vaccination rates by political party affiliation within voting districts in the state of Pennsylvania. While correlation is not causation, understanding association trends can be a crucial component in crafting and executing more efficient vaccine programs. The United States’ history of vaccine hesitancy heavily influences current policy and outcomes, including increasing polarization in political and scientific discussions. Consideration of current media and vaccination statistics demonstrates increasing vaccine hesitancy among certain political parties. As this current pandemic has highlighted, vaccine hesitancy has wide reaching effects, such as increased risky behavior, increased rates of infection and mortality, and polarizing effects within a population. This paper furthers our understanding of the role of political affiliation in exacerbating existing vaccine hesitancy as well as contributes to foundational research on how organizations can combat it