Vermont and South Dakota are actually very similar Both have slightly older, white, rural populations Have comparable median incomes Both have Republican governors And these days, they look super similar on infections Here they are over past 2 months

Vermont has vaccinated (1+ shot) nearly 75% of its population SD? 50% Vermont has a high degree of immunity through vaccinations So how does SD have high population immunity? Prior infections Here’s how pandemic has played out in both states

and you can see it in the suffering of the people of the two states Deaths per capita from COVID in VT vs SD Nearly 6 times as many folks in SD died from COVID as VT 40/100K in VT versus 230/100K in South Dakota

So both states have landed at high population immunity Good But SD got there by having close to 50% of folks infected And suffering high death rates during the fall and winter months So yes vaccines or infections work for population immunity One is much better End