Biden Administration seeks help in encouraging rural persons to get vaccinated

The Biden administration is moving into a new phase of its campaign to vaccinate as many Americans as possible for the coronavirus, one where the government may not always be the best messenger to persuade people to get their shot.

So it's working to bring together hundreds of local and national groups into something it calls the COVID-19 Community Corps, enlisting people to help their friends, family and neighbors make appointments and get access to vaccines.

On a recent evening, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy led a Zoom call for people who have signed up to help. "I just want to remind you again, which we will keep doing again and again and again, that this is not just a government-driven effort," he said.

"It's about creating a community where we can celebrate what people are doing," Murthy said. "Where we can share best practices, where we can inspire one another just as we learn."

The country is nearing the point where vaccine supply will outstrip demand. It was only this week that every state lifted restrictions on who could be vaccinated, and just under 50% of adults have yet to get their first shot....

It can be harder to access vaccines in some rural areas, and an NPR analysis of county-level vaccination data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows signs of an emerging rural-urban divide in vaccination rates.

But the list of founding members of the administration's COVID-19 Community Corps is dominated by progressive organizations, raising the question of how the government plans to reach conservatives and people in rural areas where polling reveals greater vaccine hesitancy.

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Administration officials are aware of the limits of their influence, said Terri Moore of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

"To their credit, when the White House reached out, they acknowledged that they are not going to be the strongest voice necessarily in some rural communities and they need those strong trusted voices," Moore said.

The Farm Bureau, with its 6 million members and 2,800 county affiliates, was eager to jump in and help. They've joined Murthy's Zoom calls and shared what works. ...