Table 2. Tweets generated from state health department Twitter accounts by region - south and west, October 19, 2020 - February 28, 2021, n (%).
| State health department | Total tweets | Number of tweets containing a term related to: | |||||
| N=36,554a | COVID-19 | Vaccines | Race/ethnicity | Equity | Mistrust | Racism | |
| n=20,278a | n=8,913a | n=439a | n=398a | n=217a | n=21a | ||
| South, n=17 | |||||||
| WV | 2,430 (6.65) | 1,906 (9.40) | 100 (1.12) | 3 (.68) | 56 (14.07) | 13 (5.99) | 0 (0) |
| SC | 1,223 (3.35) | 661 (3.26) | 441 (4.95) | 9 (2.05) | 9 (2.26) | 4 (1.84) | 0 (0) |
| NC | 1,212 (3.32) | 635 (3.13) | 314 (3.52) | 24 (5.47) | 36 (9.05) | 9 (4.15) | 3 (14.29) |
| AL | 1,060 (2.9) | 478 (2.36) | 316 (3.55) | 14 (3.19) | 1 (.25) | 6 (2.76) | 0 (0) |
| LA | 932 (2.55) | 315 (1.55) | 123 (1.38) | 0 (0) | 8 (2.01) | 5 (2.30) | 1 (4.76) |
| DC | 866 (2.37) | 425 (2.10) | 268 (3.01) | 2 (.46) | 19 (4.77) | 0 (0) | 2 (9.52) |
| TN | 719 (1.97) | 405 (2.00) | 148 (1.66) | 7 (1.59) | 4 (1.01) | 2 (.92) | 2 (9.52) |
| MD | 663 (1.81) | 448 (2.21) | 196 (2.20) | 4 (.91) | 8 (2.01) | 1 (.46) | 0 (0) |
| DE | 642 (1.76) | 367 (1.81) | 157 (1.76) | 5 (1.14) | 5 (1.26) | 3 (1.38) | 0 (0) |
| VA | 513 (1.40) | 231 (1.14) | 218 (2.45) | 7 (1.59) | 2 (.50) | 2 (.92) | 0 (0) |
| AR | 489 (1.34) | 394 (1.94) | 147 (1.65) | 1 (.23) | 1 (.25) | 1 (.46) | 0 (0) |
| TX | 473 (1.29) | 255 (1.26) | 172 (1.93) | 6 (1.37) | 5 (1.26) | 4 (1.84) | 0 (0) |
| FL | 330 (.90) | 83 (.41) | 146 (1.64) | 1 (.23) | 1 (.25) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| OK | 303 (.83) | 141 (.70) | 155 (1.74) | 1 (.23) | 0 (0) | 1 (.46) | 0 (0) |
| GA | 290 (.79) | 238 (1.17) | 142 (1.59) | 2 (.46) | 1 (.25) | 3 (1.38) | 0 (0) |
| MS | 241 (.66) | 189 (.93) | 44 (.49) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| KY | 30 (.08) | 7 (.03) | 6 (.07) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| West, n=13 | |||||||
| AZ | 1,459 (3.99) | 586 (2.89) | 497 (5.58) | 5 (1.14) | 4 (1.01) | 4 (1.84) | 0 (0) |
| OR | 1,403 (3.84) | 692 (3.41) | 545 (6.11) | 40 (9.11) | 26 (6.53) | 6 (2.76) | 6 (28.57) |
| WA | 1,364 (3.73) | 995 (4.91) | 416 (4.67) | 12 (2.73) | 27 (6.78) | 6 (2.76) | 0 (0) |
| CO | 888 (2.43) | 633 (3.12) | 244 (2.74) | 10 (2.28) | 2 (.50) | 7 (3.23) | 0 (0) |
| NM | 701 (1.92) | 329 (1.62) | 93 (1.04) | 85 (19.36) | 3 (.75) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| AK | 606 (1.66) | 252 (1.24) | 66 (.74) | 2 (.46) | 2 (.50) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| ID | 602 (1.65) | 443 (2.18) | 243 (2.73) | 3 (.68) | 1 (.25) | 3 (1.38) | 0 (0) |
| CA | 539 (1.47) | 379 (1.87) | 69 (.77) | 9 (2.05) | 13 (3.27) | 5 (2.3) | 0 (0) |
| UT | 115 (.31) | 43 (.21) | 50 (.56) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| NV | 58 (.16) | 23 (.11) | 9 (.10) | 2 (.46) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| MT | 36 (.10) | 18 (.09) | 20 (.22) | 1 (.23) | 0 (0) | 1 (.46) | 0 (0) |
| HI | 5 (.01) | 3 (.01) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| WY | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
a. N or n is for all four regions (across Tables 1 and 2)
Source: Authors’ analysis of state health department tweets posted between October 19, 2020 – February 28, 2021. Notes: State health departments include the Twitter accounts of the District of Columbia health department and all US state health departments. COVID-19 terms: COVID, coronavirus, pandemic; Vaccine terms: vaccine, vaccination, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen; Race terms: race, ethnicity, racial/ethnic categories specified by US Office of Management and Budget; Equity terms: (in)equity, (in)equality, (in)justice, disparity; Mistrust terms: trust, mistrust, distrust, hesitancy; Racism terms: racism, racist. Derivatives of terms are included.