Topline
The disparity in Covid-19 vaccination rates between urban and rural Americans has more than doubled since April, with 75% of residents of urban counties having received at least one dose as of the end of January compared to just 59% in rural counties, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that illustrated the still-widening partisan divide on vaccines.
Florelyn Adajar, a medical assistant at Ilanka Community Health Center in Cordova, Alaska, holds a … [+]
Key Facts
Similar patterns were observed according to age group and sex, with adults more likely to be vaccinated than children.
The greatest age-related difference was reported among children 5-11: 31% in urban areas had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine compared to 15% in rural areas.
Among adolescents aged 12-17, 65% in urban areas had received at least one dose compared to 39% in rural areas, the CDC said.
Researchers hypothesized that limited access to healthcare in rural communities could have contributed to the disparity, and said targeted efforts are necessary to increase access to and confidence in vaccines in rural areas.
The CDC analyzed county-level coverage for Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines between December 14 and January 31.
The CDC’s findings reinforced a February 9 report by Pew Research Center that indicated 82% of urbanites surveyed reported having received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, compared to 80% of those in suburbs and 68% in rural communities.
Key Background
Covid vaccination and death rates have tracked closely with party affiliation as well as urban/rural residency. Counties that voted strongly for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election had higher Covid death rates throughout most of 2020 than counties that voted strongly for Donald Trump, according to an analysis by the New York Times. However, around early 2021, once vaccines had begun to be distributed, this relationship reversed, with strongly Trump-voting counties reporting far more Covid deaths than either Biden-voting counties or moderately Trump-voting counties as of December 2021. Pew found that 90% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents reported having received at least one dose, compared to just 64% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. Pew also found that vaccination rates correlated to income and education, with higher-income and more educated people more likely to be vaccinated.
Contra
Former President Trump says he is vaccinated and boosted. In a now-deleted statement, Trump called Covid vaccines “beautiful” and claimed that they had become available so quickly thanks only to his leadership.
Further Reading
“Here Are The Industries With The Highest — And Lowest — Covid Vaccination Rates, Poll Finds” (Forbes)
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/03/03/covid-vaccination-disparity-between-urban-and-rural-america-has-doubled-since-april-cdc-says/