The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact has been felt in communities across the U.S., from the largest urban centers to the smallest rural communities. NEW analysis looks at vaccine hesitancy in rural America https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/vaccine-hesitancy-in-rural-america/

There are many factors that are associated with an individual’s willingness to get the coronavirus vaccine including partisanship. Yet, even when controlling for partisanship, individuals living in rural areas are still more likely to be vaccine hesitant

If partisan identification and demographics don’t completely explain the greater hesitancy, what else is driving attitudes about getting a vaccine among rural residents?

Rural residents are just as likely to know someone who tested positive or died from COVID-19 but there are other differences...
39% are *not worried* they or someone in their family will get sick
50% say seriousness is exaggerated
62% say getting vaccinated is a personal choice

KEY TAKEAWAY: Vaccine hesitancy among rural residents is more than just partisanship and is strongly connected to their views of the severity of the coronavirus and the reasons for getting vaccinated.

Effective messages need to be delivered by trusted messengers and take into account these strongly held beliefs in order to have successful vaccine uptake in rural America.