And that’s precisely what is occurring in Indiana.

Age groups with the highest vaccination rates are showing the biggest drops in new COVID-19 infections so far in 2021 compared to the last six months of 2020.

They’re not just seeing the biggest drops, but bigger drops than younger age groups that aren’t as highly vaccinated.

The strong correlation between higher vaccines and reduced infections appears to suggest that yes, vaccines are working to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data analysis was completed and charted by Micah Pollock, an associate professor of economics at Indiana University Northwest. During the pandemic, Pollock has frequently broken down COVID-19 statistics and visualized them on numerous topics, which he posts near-daily via Twitter.

On Friday, Pollock took a look at the change in new COVID-19 cases by age group versus vaccination rates for those age groups, showing a strong correlation between higher vaccine uptake and lower new cases.

“The reduction of #COVID19 cases in #Indiana since December has been far greater among age groups that have higher vaccination rates,” he tweeted.

The data, coming from state datasets on new case counts and vaccine rates among the population, has shown significant drops in new cases among all age groups, although the biggest drops have come among the state’s oldest, who also happen to be vaccinated at the highest rate.

Approximately 74% of Hoosiers age 80 and older have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and new cases in March and April 2021 are down 88.1% compared to June-December 2020.

For those in their 70s, vaccine uptake has hit 77% and new cases have dropped by 81.6%.

As vaccine uptake decreases after that by age group, so does the reduction in new cases.

In the 60s age range, vaccine uptake is 65% and new cases have dropped 70.2%; at 50s it’s 47% vaccination rate and 61.5% drop in cases; in the 40s vaccines have hit 33% of the population and cases have dropped 58.4%; those in their 30s have 25% vaccinated and had a 54.6% drop in cases; for the 20s it’s 19% vaccinations and 54.1% drop in cases and for those younger than 20, of which only 3% are currently vaccinated, new cases have dropped the lowest at 42.9%.

So although cases have dropped across the board from the end of 2020 until now for all ages, the biggest drops have come among those who are more vaccinated.

The correlation between vaccines and falling COVID-19 numbers isn’t unique to just cases either, as deaths have fallen dramatically at the same time vaccines have been rising.

Indiana was averaging 99 deaths per day on Dec. 31, 2020, a time at which vaccine rollout had just started about two weeks earlier but only to health care workers and first responders.

Deaths had already started to come down but have plummeted since January 2021, when the first rounds of vaccines were opened up to the eldest Hoosiers.

Indiana focused on vaccinating its oldest residents first as age has proven to be a primary risk factor for COVID-19.

In total, 51.9% of all deaths in Indiana were among people 80 and older, fallen incrementally at each 10-year age bracket to 25.8% among those in their 70s; 14.8% for those in their 60s; 5.1% among those in their 50s; 1.7% among people in their 40s and less than 1% combined for everyone under 40 years of age.

As vaccines rolled out and as uptake has been very high among the most vulnerable groups, daily deaths have almost been totally wiped out.

By Feb. 1 the state was averaging 53 deaths per day, a 46% reduction from the start of the year, then fell to 15 per day average as of March 1 and to seven deaths per day as of April 1.

New COVID-19 cases and deaths have almost been totally eradicated from long-term care facilities across the state, too, with nursing homes being an early priority for vaccine efforts.

After hitting peaks of more than 200 new cases coming out of nursing homes every day and as high as 53 deaths per day among residents in December, as of April, nursing homes are now reporting fewer than five cases per day and averaging just one death per day out of hundreds of facilities across the state.

This article was made available through Hoosier State Press Association.