Montana and Wyoming had the highest number of nursing home deaths in the U.S. through the first half of October, according to the American Association of Retired Persons' latest update to its nursing home COVID-19 dashboard.
For the four weeks ending Oct. 17, there were 1.72 deaths per 100 residents across Montana nursing homes, more than nine times higher than the national average of 0.18 deaths per 100 residents. Wyoming had the second highest death rate at 1.53 deaths per 100 residents.
At the same time, the two states are among those with the highest percentage of nursing home residents fully vaccinated. In Montana, more than 90 percent of residents were vaccinated as of Oct. 17, and nearly 90 percent were vaccinated in Wyoming.
As of Oct. 31, about 64 percent of nursing home staff in Montana and 63 percent of staff in Wyoming have been vaccinated, below the national average of 72.8 percent.