Biden Counties Continue to Have Higher Vaccination Rates Compared to Trump Counties, As the Omicron Variant Surges Across the U.S.

An updated KFF analysis finds that counties that voted for Biden continue to have higher COVID-19 vaccination rates compared to counties that voted for Trump. As of January 11, 65% of those in Biden counties were fully vaccinated versus 52% of those in Trump counties. Even with the Omicron variant spreading across the country, the gap between Biden and Trump counties has widened from 9 percentage points in June to 13.2 percentage points currently.

There is currently no gap between Biden and Trump counties in the share of those who are fully vaccinated and who have gotten booster doses. However, because of the underlying gap in vaccination rates, there is also a gap in the share who are boosted across the two groups, and that gap has been widening over time.

Vaccines and boosters have shown to be effective against COVID-19, including against the Delta and Omicron variants. With rising hospitalization rates, those unvaccinated remain at greater risk for more severe COVID-19.