More than 905,000 people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Mississippi, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health, though the state still has the lowest percentage of vaccinated residents in the nation.

The 905,000 are 30.3% of the state’s 2.984 million population. According to the Mayo Clinic’s vaccine tracker, 34% have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Mississippi has the smallest percentage of population of any U.S. state to have received at least one dose of a vaccine since they became available. The neighboring states of Louisiana (35.8%) and Alabama (36%) have the next fewest people by percentage to have received at least one dose of vaccine.

Five other states have had 39% of residents to receive at least one dose — Idaho, Wyoming, Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia. Twenty states have reported at least 50% of their populations receiving vaccines, and Vermont has recorded the highest percentage, 70.7%, though it is the second least-populated state in the union, with approximately 624,000 residents.

Even with vaccines now available in the state to people age 12 and older, more than 21,700 appointments were available across 38 MSDH sites Wednesday. This number does not include pharmacies or clinics offering vaccinations.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, MSDH had reported 101 new cases and five new deaths. Twenty deaths and 791 cases had been reported since May 25. The state has now had 317,856 positive test results (194,566 confirmed and 123,290 probable) and 7,322 deaths (5,049 confirmed and 2,273 probable). Five variant strains of COVID-19 have been reported in Mississippi, and 629 cases from these variants have been recorded to date.

Confirmed cases and deaths are generally determined by positive PCR tests, which detect the presence of ongoing coronavirus infection.

Probable cases are those who test positive by other testing methods such as antibody or antigen, and have recent symptoms consistent with COVID-19, indicating a recent infection.

Probable deaths are those individuals with a designation of COVID-19 as a cause of death on the death certificate, but where no confirmatory testing was performed.

Lincoln County is approaching the 4,000 mark with cases, now at 3,998 and 111 deaths.

MSDH recorded 149 patients hospitalized in the state Tuesday with confirmed infections and 29 with suspected coronavirus infections. Twenty of the 49 patients in intensive care units were also on ventilators. King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven reported one confirmed COVID patient, who was not in the ICU.

For more information on vaccinations, visit the MSDH website.