US rural-urban gap on vaccines growing: media

WASHINGTON - The rural-urban gap on COVID-19 vaccines in the United States is growing, said a Bloomberg report on Monday.

First-dose vaccination coverage is about 59 percent for people in rural areas in the country, compared with 75 percent for those in urban areas, said the report, citing a recent government study.

The disparity has more than doubled since April 2021, said the report.

The divide is particularly stark among children and teenagers who need parental consent to get vaccinated. Only about 15 percent of children ages 5 to 11 have been vaccinated in rural areas, compared with 31 percent in urban areas, according to the report.

Among other factors like geography, religion and education, partisanship remains a major contributor to vaccine hesitancy, said the report.