Florida Is 3rd Least Vaccinated State

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Daytona Beach, FL - The findings of a new study show that when it comes to vaccinations, Florida has some of the lowest numbers in the nation.

According to WalletHub's study "2019's States That Vaccinate The Most," the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccines prevented at least 10 million deaths worldwide just between the years of 2010 and 2015.

But, according Jill Gonzalez, an analyst with WalletHub, vaccinations have become a hot button topic lately.

"This question of vaccinations has definitely been raised more within the last decade or so," said Gonzalez. "We see a lot more pushback now than we have in the past."

When looking at the numbers, some states are better than others when it comes to getting vaccinated. For their study, WalletHub analyzed all 50 states plus the District of Columbia across 18 different categories to find out exactly where each area lies.

And out of 51, Florida came in at 49th.

Source: WalletHub

In order to determine the rankings, WalletHub analyzed three different dimensions. Those being children and teenager immunization rates, adult and elderly vaccination rates and immunization uptake disparities and influencing factors.

And in most areas, Florida ranked pretty low, coming in at 49th for share of adults with tetanus vaccination, and dead last in one part, according to Gonzalez.

"It ranked dead last when it came to the adult and elderly vaccination rate."

The study also found that Florida ranked 2nd lowest when it came to the influenza vaccination rate of children aged six months to 17-years-old. The only place where Florida saw something close to a top spot was in the number of children under 6-years-old in participating in an immunization information system. There, the state came in 4th.

The only two states ranked lower than Florida were Texas and Mississippi. Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island secured the top three spots nationwide, respectively.