MISSOULA — Missoula County is continuing to make progress in vaccinating residents against COVID-19, but health officials say there is still work to be done.
The Missoula City-County Health Department (MCCHD) notes that a milestone was hit earlier this week that will allow events to take place without size restrictions so long as certain guidelines continue to be followed.
MCCHD reports 22% of the county’s eligible population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, “which falls considerably short of what would be considered herd immunity against this virus,” according to a news release.
Event organizers are still being urged to take the necessary steps to make sure that events are as safe as possible.
“Over the last year, the Health Department has worked with several event organizers who have been very thoughtful about the modification of their events to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” MCCHD notes in the news release.
“The most effective way to end this pandemic is to have enough people fully vaccinated to suppress the virus,” Incident Commander Cindy Farr commented.
Vaccination can pull us out of this pandemic, but only if we continue to take precautions until enough people get the vaccine,” Health Officer Ellen Leahy added. “We are making good progress in Missoula, but we're not there, yet."
MCCHD is reminding people to continue to wear masks, socially distance themselves and wash their hands frequently.
Vaccine appointment information can be found online here.
The Montana COVID-19 tracking map shows that 60,183 COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered at 21,689 people are fully immunized.