More Than Half of Rural Residents Have or Plan to Receive Coronavirus Vaccine, Poll Finds | Healthiest Communities Health News


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More than half of rural residents in the United States have already received or plan to receive their coronavirus vaccine.

According to analysis released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Friday, 39% of people living in rural America had already gotten at least one dose of their vaccine, an increase from 23% in an analysis from a month prior.

Additionally, 16% of rural residents report that they will get their vaccine “as soon as possible.”

However, hesitancy about receiving the vaccine remains, with 15% of residents saying they will “wait and see.” Nine percent, a number that has been mostly constant over the foundation’s four surveys, say they will only get a vaccine if it is required.

Also mostly constant, the percentage of rural residents who say they will “definitely not” get the vaccine, which sits at 21% in the foundation’s most recent analysis.

Cartoons on the Coronavirus

Despite the hesitancy, rural residents are more likely to currently be vaccinated. While 39% report having at least one vaccine dose, 31% of both suburban and urban Americans report the same, though their desire to receive their vaccines is greater.

More than twice as many urban-dwelling Americans, 35%, than rural residents want their vaccine as soon as possible, compared to 28% of people living in the suburbs.

People living in urban settings are the least likely to “definitely not” want to be vaccinated, with 10% saying so, compared to 13% of suburban Americans.

Among rural Americans, Democrats, 59%, and people aged 65 years and older, 68%, are the most likely to be vaccinated. Twenty-nine percent of Republicans in rural areas report having at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Approximately 20% of the adult population lives in rural America reflecting a diverse group across race, education levels, employment and partisanship. A large share, 41%, of people who will definitely not receive the vaccine identify as White Evangecials and Republican or Republican-leaning, 73%.

And while no messaging was consistently successful in swaying people to get vaccinated, the foundation said, those who plan to “wait and see” appear more open to messaging and education.

While access to vaccines in rural areas has been a concern, rural residents who wanted the vaccine had an easier time getting it than urban residents. About 11% of rural residents who want a vaccine said they have tried to get an appointment, compared to 21% in urban areas and 22% in suburban areas.

However, Black rural residents were more likely than Whites and Hispanics to report inadequate vaccine supply at vaccine sites in their communities.

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