Rural coronavirus vaccination grows at fastest rate since June, but the rural-urban vaccination gap also grows

Vaccination rates as of Sept. 23 compared to the national average, adjusted to account for vaccinations not assigned to specific counties. Map by The Daily Yonder; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

Nearly 450,000 rural Americans became fully vaccinated against the coronavirus during the week of Sept. 17-23; that's the largest single-week total since early June, and the rural vaccination rate is now 41.4 percent, a 1-point increase from the week before, Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. The metropolitan vaccination rate rose 1.1 points, to 53.3% of the metro population, meaning the rural-urban vaccination rate gap grew slightly, to 11.9 points.

"The number of vaccinations completed each week has been on the rise since mid-August. Rural counties reported completing 50% more vaccinations in September than in August. In metro counties, completed vaccinations were up 30% in September over August," Murphy and Marema report.

Click here for more charts, maps and regional analysis from the Yonder, including an interactive map.