Vaccines could have saved 22,000 lives in Texas and Florida, researchers say

More than 22,000 lives could have been spared in Texas and Florida, states where governors have spoken out against mask and vaccine mandates, if they had vaccinated three-quarters of their adult populations.

If 74% of Texans and Floridians had been vaccinated by the end of August, they could have collectively had 95,000 fewer hospitalizations and 22,000 fewer deaths, a study published Oct. 8 in the scientific journal Lancet found.

If this rate had been reached by the end of July, as in Massachusetts and Connecticut, Texas and Florida could have seen 650,000 fewer hospitalizations each.