After leading the nation in most per-capita death tolls of any state basically since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, New Jersey is finally, after over a year and a half, no longer the leader. The holder of that ignominious award is now the state of Mississippi, which has been slammed with skyrocketing Covid-19 deaths since the end of June.

Since the start of July, Mississippi has been one of the hardest-hit states hit with a wave of Covid-19 infections, and since then, the state’s cumulative deaths rose by about 22% to 306 deaths per every 100,000 residents, according to the CDC. Put another way, approximately one in every 327 Mississippians has died from Covid-19. That just beats out New Jersey, in which one out of every 328 residents have died from the virus.

Experts attribute the Mississippi takeover of the per-capita death toll to far higher vaccination rates in New Jersey compared to the Southern state. Mississippi has the highest poverty tax rate and the largest proportion of black residents in the country – low income populations and black populations have both shown hesitancy in receiving the Covid-19 vaccines.

In contrast, over 75% of New Jerseyans have received a Covid-19 vaccine, which is has shown to dramatically reduce serious illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.