Pandemic roundup: Interactive graph shows death disparity; hospitals sound the alarm; rural pharmacies struggling

Deaths per 100,000 residents per week, March 7, 2020 through Dec. 11, 2021
(Daily Yonder graph; click on the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.)

Here's a roundup of recent news stories about the pandemic and vaccination efforts:

The Covid-19 death rate in rural America is twice as high as the urban rate, and has been higher than the urban rate since the second wave back in late summer 2020. That's mostly because of rural America's lower coronavirus vaccination rate, but other factors are also in play, Liz Carey and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. Rural Americans are also less likely to wear masks, socially distance, or take other precautionary measures. They're also, on average, older and in poorer health than Americans in metro counties, and have less access to health care.

The Yonder digs further into rural-urban pandemic death toll disparities in a series of interactive charts. Read more here.

In Vermont, Pennsylvania, and other states, an influx of Covid-19 patients is straining resources in rural hospitals' intensive care units.

As hospitals fill up, paramedics spend more time moving patients and have less time to treat them. Read more here.

Rural pharmacies are struggling, and the pandemic has made it worse. Here's how some rural pharmacists bucked the trend.