In a pandemic that has seen sharp divides between urban and rural vaccination rates nationwide, Arizona is the only state where rural vaccine rates outpaced more populated counties according to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
FILE - Korene Atene, a certified nursing assistant with the Monument Valley Health Center, gets information from people lined up to get tested for COVID-19 outside of the center in Oljato-Monument Valley, San Juan County, on Thursday, April 16, 2020. In a pandemic that has seen sharp divides between urban and rural vaccination rates nationwide, Arizona is the only state where rural vaccine rates outpaced more populated counties, according to a recent report from the U.S.
Tribal communities were left more vulnerable to the virus because of underlying health issues like diabetes and heart disease, as well as multiple generations sharing a home. Cases and deaths piled on despite curfews, weekend lockdowns, mask mandates and business shutdowns. By April 2020, the Navajo Nation — which encompasses parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — declared it had beenThe devastating loss, particularly of elders, drove a push for vaccinations as an act of selflessness.
Arizona has 15 counties total. The CDC determined counties were rural if they either had no substantial “urban cluster” or one with a population between 10,000 and 50,000. “If I adjust data that’s included in the CDC report but not on the state dashboard, then you could 100% say with certainty that the only reason why those rural counties were ranked higher than urban is because of tribal participation in vaccination campaigns,” said Will Humble, former department director. “There’s no way it could be anything else.”
“You look at the numbers that we’ve put out there,” Terrell said. “If you think about the vaccination sites at the border as well. If you add that into the county — yes, I think that was a contributing factor.”
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