Just as the United States fell into a patchwork of pandemic responses last year, the lifesaving vaccine drive has encountered troublesome zones of indifference and resistance. President Biden’s goal of at least partial vaccination for 70 percent of Americans by July Fourth now looks to be slipping away. Even more worrisome are persistent islands of vaccine hesitancy in some states and communities that could face renewed illness in the autumn.

On Monday, Republican Gov. Phil Scott announced Vermont had become the first state to vaccinate 80 percent of those eligible with at least one dose. Vermont has given out 131,473 doses per 100,000 population. By contrast, in Mississippi only 35 percent of the overall population has received at least one dose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the Mississippi vaccination rate at less than half that of Vermont, or 61,278 administered per 100,000.

Where vaccine coverage is strong, the pandemic is receding. In the latest […]