COVID vaccine sent to rural areas often not used by locals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Doses of the coronavirus vaccine that were sent to rural areas of Missouri at the beginning of the state’s immunization campaign often didn’t reach locals, state data shows.

That means that vaccinations in parts of largely rural southern Missouri have stalled at some of the lowest rates in the country, even though rural areas initially received more doses per person than cities.

For instance, 46,000 doses were allocated as of April 13 to a cluster of nine counties in an area of south-central Missouri where West Plains is located.

But KCUR reports that state data shows that only 37,000 doses were administered to the region’s 137,110 residents.