NPR Analysis Finds Growing Vaccine Divide Between Urban And Rural America

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🗓️ 21 May 2021

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

We know that Americans in blue states are getting vaccinated at higher rates than those in red ones. But that gap obscures another growing divide in America's vaccine campaign — the divide within states between rural and urban areas. An NPR analysis of county-level data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that divide exists across age groups in almost every state. NPR's Austin Fast explains why.

The Biden administration says it's making progress on closing the gap. Their focus is on getting as many people vaccinated as possible. But public health officials tell NPR's Geoff Brumfiel that the U.S. may never reach 'herd immunity.'

Additional reporting in this episode from Veronica Zaragovia of member station WLRN in Miami.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	In Chicago, some people can get a COVID-19 vaccine in the comfort of their own home.
0:05.5	Now, everyone 65 and older in Chicago is eligible for in-home vaccinations. If you're interested in
0:10.2	this, you can make an appointment. We get a phone number. In LA, if a business wants to make it
0:14.2	easy for employees to get a shot at work, the county will dispatch a mobile vaccine unit.
0:20.0	A vaccine van is helping get the shots to more people. In New York, vaccines are available at
0:25.2	certain subway stations, at the American Museum of Natural History, and at baseball games,
0:32.6	where the shot comes with a free ticket, and in Miami, vaccines are available at the airport,
0:42.0	and on the beach. Angel Sanchez, a busy single dad who works construction, hadn't had a chance to
0:51.9	look for a vaccination site, but on a trip to Miami Beach with the suns, the city was offering
0:57.2	shots right on the sand, and he was happy to get one. Consider this, if you live in or around
1:06.1	an American city, you may have an easier time getting vaccinated than almost anyone anywhere in the
1:11.4	world. It's not the same story in more rural areas of the country, and that's just one reason for
1:17.0	America's growing vaccine divide. From NPR, I'm Audie Cornish. It's Friday, May 21st.
1:28.3	What happens after a police officer shoots someone who's unarmed? For decades in California,
1:34.4	internal affairs investigations, how the police police themselves were secret. Until now,
1:40.4	listen to On Our Watch, a podcast from NPR and KQED.
1:49.0	It's considered this from NPR. 60 million people, one-fifth of the U.S.
1:54.9	population, live in counties designated as rural. And earlier this month, President Biden announced
2:01.2	a shift in the U.S. vaccine strategy to reach more of those people. Today,
2:05.7	two months of those lives. The president said, in an effort to get one shot to 70% of adults
2:13.0	by July 4th, the government would invest more in rural vaccine clinics and community outreach.
2:19.2	We know that vaccination rates are lower in rural areas, and that's why we're going to get vaccines
	...

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