Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Between Urban and Rural Counties — United States, December 14, 2020–April 10, 2021

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Adams, Laura ; Barbour, Kamil E. ; Brookmeyer, Kathryn A. ; Cadwell, Betsy ; Clayton, Heather ; Eke, Paul ; Flores, Stephen ; Fox, Kimberley ; Gibbs-Scharf, Lynn ; Harris, LaTreace Q. ; Kriss, Jennifer L. ; Murthy, Bhavini Patel ; Murthy, Neil ; Patel, Anita ; Qualters, Judith R. ; Reynolds, Laura E. ; Ritchey, Matthew D. ; Rose, Charles E. ; Shaw, Lauren K. ; Sterrett, Natalie ; Stokley, Shannon ; Toblin, Robin L. ; Wang, Alice ; Weller, Daniel L. ; Williams, Charnetta ; Zajac, Julie ; Zell, Elizabeth
• Description:
  Approximately 60 million persons in the United States live in rural counties, representing almost one fifth (19.3%) of the population.* In September 2020, COVID-19 incidence (cases per 100,000 population) in rural counties surpassed that in urban counties (1). Rural communities often have a higher proportion of residents who lack health insurance, live with comorbidities or disabilities, are aged ≥65 years, and have limited access to health care facilities with intensive care capabilities, which places these residents at increased risk for COVID-19-associated morbidity and Mortality (2,3). To better understand COVID-19 vaccination disparities across the urban-rural continuum, CDC analyzed county-level vaccine administration data among adults aged ≥18 years who received their first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine, or a single dose of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) during December 14, 2020-April 10, 2021 in 50 U.S. jurisdictions (49 states and the District of Columbia [DC]). Adult COVID-19 vaccination coverage was lower in rural counties (38.9%) than in urban counties (45.7%) overall and among adults aged 18-64 years (29.1% rural, 37.7% urban), those aged ≥65 years (67.6% rural, 76.1% urban), women (41.7% rural, 48.4% urban), and men (35.3% rural, 41.9% urban). Vaccination coverage varied among jurisdictions: 36 jurisdictions had higher coverage in urban counties, five had higher coverage in rural counties, and five had similar coverage (i.e., within 1%) in urban and rural counties; in four jurisdictions with no rural counties, the urban-rural comparison could not be assessed. A larger proportion of persons in the most rural counties (14.6%) traveled for vaccination to nonadjacent counties (i.e., farther from their county of residence) compared with persons in the most urban counties (10.3%). As availability of COVID-19 vaccines expands, public health practitioners should continue collaborating with health care providers, pharmacies, employers, faith leaders, and other community partners to identify and address barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in rural areas (2).
• Subjects:
  Coronavirus COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccines Healthcare Disparities Rural Population Urban Population Vaccination Coverage
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 70(20):759-764
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Pubmed ID:
  34014911
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8136424
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force ; U.S. Department of Defense
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  20
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062704
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3d25c2bf82b4106a8302985a05e04bf1f89cc274f1de70df42fa7cea3fa91841baa804a2b5bba5e97edb6d1240e02cabc043344c502c5a6a84df3e64b645c168
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/106677/cdc_106677_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 181.30 KB ]