Team: 8
School: Capital High
Area of Science: Microbiology, Computer Science, Behav. & Soc. Sc.
Interim: Definition of the problem:
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide. Although most people only experience mild or moderate symptoms, others can become debilitatingly ill and pass away. This infectious disease has led to a considerable number of deaths that are comparable to the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, where it is estimated that around 675,000 Americans died. This is comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic, because it is estimated that Covid deaths stand at more than 675,400 in the United States. Even though the vaccine has been approved by the FDA for people 16 and older since December of 2020, many people are still unwilling to get vaccinated. When asked why, 75% of adults say they are skeptical of Covid or the effectiveness of the vaccine. Given the information provided, did the vaccine actually prevent higher death rates in the United States? Should people be less skeptical about how effective this medical intervention is?
Solution plan:
The objective of this project is to study the COVID-19 pandemic, measure the impact of the virus, and examine how the vaccine affected the Covid death rates per state. In order to calculate the impact, a graph was made with proportions showing percentages of death rates with the total population for each state. The first step in determining the effectiveness of the vaccine is to calculate the correlation between Covid related fatalities and administered vaccines by state, then representing this data with a model such as a scatter plot or graph. Another component in analyzing the relationship between these two variables is the standard deviation and range of the given data points.
Progress and Expected results:
The program we are writing in Python displays the Covid death rate by state in a graph using the CDC’s COVID death rates by state dataset. After doing research and finding the population of each state, we created another graph to show the death to population ratio. This was done because some states had a population significantly higher than others, which made it seem like some states were not taking measures to stop the spread of the disease. This made it easier to compare the percentage of deaths throughout all the states accurately in a way that equally balanced the states and their population. To examine the effectiveness of the vaccine, we used the COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States by County dataset (also from the CDC) that shows the number of first dose vaccines administered per county and filtered it to a specific date. After making our scatter plot, we expect to see a negative linear correlation between deaths and the number of administered vaccines, with deaths decreasing as the number of people getting vaccinated increases.
Works cited:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/09/05/by-the-numbers-whos-refusing-covid-vaccinations-and-why/?sh=1583a58152ea Accessed Jan 7
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-covid-19-vaccine Accessed Dec 16
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 Accessed Nov 28
https://www.statnews.com/2021/09/20/covid-19-set-to-overtake-1918-spanish-flu-as-deadliest-disease-in-american-history/ Accessed January 2
Team Members:
Julia Almeida
Guadalupe Rojo
LaTrisha Padilla
Leslie Gutierrez Chavez
Sponsoring Teacher: Irina Cislaru