Georgia is 4th least vaccinated state in the nation, study finds

ATLANTA - As flu season gets ready to begin, residents of the Peach State are among the nation's least vaccinated people, a new study finds.

In a report released Tuesday by Wallethub, Georgia is ranked 48th across the country in vaccinations, beating only Florida, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.

The study analyzed all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 17 metrics, which ranged from the share of vaccinated children to the share of people without health insurance to the flu vaccination rate among adults.

In almost all the major findings, Georgia was found to be below average - coming in nearly last in at least three of the metrics. 

GEORGIA HAS ONE OF THE LOWEST PERCENTAGES OF CHILDREN VACCINATED FOR COVID-19 VACCINES, STUDY SHOWS

The study found that Georgia was 48th in the number of children vaccinated for the flu, 47th for adults with the flu vaccine, 42nd for the number of adults vaccinated for tetanus, and 49th in the share of the civilian noninstitutionalized population without health insurance coverage.

A measles vaccine is prepared in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

While a number of the metrics were found to be low, Georgia did have some positive results. The state tied for first in the share of children under 6 years old participating in an immunization information system and was above average on was the share of children between 19 and 35 months old living in poverty who had been given the combined 7-vaccine series.

This result comes a few months after the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that only 1.7% of Georgia children ages 6 months to 4 years old received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, tied for the sixth-lowest statewide figure in the U.S. The CDC numbers showed that 23% of Georgians ages 5 to 11 received at least one dose, the ninth-lowest percentage among states.

In total, over 7.1 million Georgians - or 67% of the population - have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine with nearly 6 million people - or 56.1% - fully vaccinated.

The states with the highest vaccination rates include Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF said their figures show 25 million children last year failed to get vaccinated against diptheria, tetanus and pertussis, a marker for childhood immunization coverage, continuing a downward trend that began in 2019.