Surprising perhaps no one, Salt Lake County residents born under the exuberant, high-achieving, let-no-opportunity-pass sign of Leo have been vaccinated for the coronavirus at higher rates than those of any other zodiac sign.
That’s according to an analysis of immunization and population data released this week by the Salt Lake County Health Department.
The department found that vaccination rates vary dramatically by astrological sign, from 70% of Leos to just 46% of Scorpios, who, if zodiac stereotypes hold true, perhaps hope to contract COVID-19 in order to deliberately infect someone else in retaliation against a perceived slight.
“We already weaponize ourselves,” health department spokesman Nicholas Rupp — himself a vaccinated Scorpio — said of the most notoriously intense grudge-holders in the cosmos.
“Or it’s so they don’t have to be around other people,” speculated Jeff Eason, the department’s bureau manager of population health and informatics, which conducted the analysis.
The bureau obtained anonymized birth dates from the county’s vaccination data to learn how vaccines were distributed among the 12 astrological signs, and compared those figures to national estimates for the share of the overall population represented by each sign.
Right behind Salt Lake County’s Leos are those born under the idealistic sign of Aquarius (67% vaccinated), followed by the determined Aries and inquisitive Sagittarius.
Notably, three of the top four signs are elemental fire signs. “We are overachievers,” said Eason, an Aries.
Perfectionist Virgos were dismayed to find their vaccination rate only slightly higher than Scorpios, at 50%.
“Wow, I’m really disappointed in my fellow Virgos,” one Twitter user mused. “Honestly I expected better,” another replied.
Falling in the middle were the pleasure-seeking, take-it-or-leave-it Taurus, and the multifaceted but easily distracted Gemini, at 56% and 55%.
The range of vaccination rates was startlingly wide, Eason acknowledged, but that “could all come down to the denominators,” he said.
Each sign’s vaccination rate was ranked almost exactly inverse to its share of the population. Scorpios and Virgos make up 9.4% and 9.3% of the U.S. population, respectively, compared to 7.1% for Leo and 6.3% for Aquarius.
If the 12 astrological signs actually are more evenly distributed in Salt Lake County’s population than they are nationally, the range of vaccination rates would not be as wide as this analysis shows, Eason explained.
“Obviously, it’s not super scientific because we are talking astrology,” Rupp said.
The county prepared the analysis as a fun conversation starter to promote vaccination. “We do have message fatigue around vaccines,” Rupp said.
About 59% of Salt Lake County residents are fully vaccinated, with a statewide rate of 54%.
Disclosure: This article was written by a Scorpio and edited by a Virgo.
