Vaccination rates vary widely across Kansas and Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Vaccination rates vary widely across Kansas and Missouri as officials work to persuade more people to get the coronavirus shots.

Statistics on the vaccination campaign show some communities making good progress distributing the shots while other, often rural areas, lag behind.

In Kansas, a 26-percentage point gap exists between the county with the highest vaccination rate and the lowest.

In Missouri, that gap is 33 percentage points.

Health officials say the places with higher vaccination rates will have fewer cases of the virus.

Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, said the uneven vaccination rates could lead to pockets of higher infections and hospitalizations.