A first: Rural-urban vaccination gap narrows for two weeks straight, as rural rates fall less than metropolitan rates

Vaccination rates as of Oct. 21, compared to national average and 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.

New Covid-19 vaccinations fell in rural and metro counties during the week of Oct. 15-21, but the rural drop was less: 6 percent, while the metro rate fell 10%. "For the first time since the Daily Yonder started tracking vaccination data in mid-April, the gap between rural and metropolitan vaccination rates decreased for two consecutive weeks," Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. "The change has been slight. The gap narrowed by only a tenth of a percentage point each week – from 12.0 points three weeks ago to 11.8 points last week."

Last week, about 229,000 rural residents completed their immunization, down from 244,000 the week before. That brings the percentage of fully vaccinated rural residents to 43.7%. Comparatively, about 1.3 million metro residents completed their shots last week, down from 1.5 million the week before, bringing the urban vaccination rate to 55.5%, Murphy and Marema report. Click here for more charts, regional analysis, and interactive state- and county-level maps from the Yonder.