Waitlists for the COVID-19 vaccine are overflowing with hundreds of people eager to receive their first dose.
But in rural areas, greater portions of people are hesitant or unwilling to get vaccinated.
COVID-19 has changed lives everywhere, but its impact on rural parts of the country is especially pronounced.
Rural communities have fewer hospital workers and hospital beds, less access to telehealth, and their populations tend to be older.
In combination, these factors led to higher rates of COVID-19 related deaths in rural settings than urban areas, according to research from the Pew Research Center.
Even here, in Northern Wisconsin, counties with the lowest populations have among the highest rates of COVID-19 related deaths.
Iron, Florence and Forest counties have the highest case fatality percentages in the state, according to data from the Department of Health Services.
That’s a ratio describing the number of deaths from a virus in relation to the number of people who have contracted it.
Because of this, the COVID-19 vaccine could have a considerable impact on public health in rural communities.
But it turns out, a lot of people in those areas are unsure about the vaccine or don’t want it all.
According to a recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 20 percent of people in rural areas say they definitely won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine.
That’s 5 percent more than people in urban and suburban areas.
Langlade County held a survey of its own, and its results were pretty similar.
Of the 700 people who responded, 17 percent said they would not get the shot and 21 percent said they were hesitant.
Jean Weston is the health officer for Langlade County’s Health Department.
“The reasons that they gave for not wanting to take the vaccine was because it was so new, and it was developed so quickly,” she said.
This survey was given before either COVID-19 vaccine was approved for use, so Weston said respondents’ feelings may have changed since then.
The Langlade County Health Department used the results of the survey to distribute information about the vaccine to ease some of these concerns.
But not all of the concerns raised are easily appeased.
The fourth and fifth most cited concerns about getting the vaccine were a lack of trust in government and a lack of trust in healthcare.
“Those are issues right now that are extremely difficult to find good interventions,” Weston said. “But again, there are some people that completely do not have that trust.”
The Kaiser Family Foundation’s study came to a similar finding – rural Americans are much more likely to trust their own doctor than the FDA, CDC or state government officials.
For now, demand for the vaccine still far exceeds its supply.
Some people are afraid, Weston said, “but on the other hand, we also see people come in here that say they’d be first in line.”
