AUSTIN, Texas — Rural Americans are dying of COVID-19 at a higher rate than urban Americans, according to a study from the Rural Policy Research Institute.
Since the pandemic began, about one in 434 rural Americans have died from COVID-19 compared with roughly one in 513 urban Americans. About 15% of Americans live in rural areas.
Health experts say the divide is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, poorer and less vaccinated.
In Texas as a whole, there are 203 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people.
Now let's take a look at how rural counties in Central Texas are doing with vaccinations. Travis, Hays and Williamson counties are the only counties with more than 50% of the population fully vaccinated. Those counties have populations of 200,000 or more.
In Travis County, more than 70% of the population is fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, more than 69% are vaccinated in Williamson County and more than 62% are vaccinated in Hays County.
Those three counties along Interstate 35 – Travis, Williamson and Hays – have 109 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people.
The eastern counties – Bastrop, Lee, Caldwell and Fayette – have 228 deaths per 100,000. Each of those counties has less than 58% of their populations vaccinated. In fact, in Lee County, less than 47% of its population is vaccinated.
And the Hill Country counties – Burnet, Blanco, Llano, Gillespie and Mason – have 248 deaths per 100,000 people. The population in each of those counties is less than 56% vaccinated.
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