America's Unique Vulnerability to COVID-19.

A study published in The Lancet found that COVID-19 infection and death rates varied greatly between US states due to a combination of social and economic factors, including poverty, lack of access to quality healthcare, and low levels of interpersonal trust. States with higher poverty and lower educational attainment saw disproportionately higher rates of COVID infections and deaths. The study also found that protective measures like mask mandates and mobility restrictions were effective in reducing infection rates, but only vaccine coverage had a strong association with state-by-state variation in COVID death rates.