CHINOOK, Mont. (NMB) – Blaine County Health Officer Jana McPherson-Hauer says COVID-19 case rates have plateaued they prepare to open up COVID-19 vaccines to everyone 16 and older on April 1st.
“We’re still seeing cases of COVID-19, but there’s no real upward or downward trend at this point. We do expect that as the pandemic continues, in addition to having little spikes related to specific localized outbreaks and those kinds of things. With that, that opens up our ability to safely continue vaccine clinics through the spring, and we’re excited about that.”
McPherson-Hauer says recent vaccine clinics for people already eligible have gone well, and they have the capability to provide more vaccines as the spring continues.
“That will be a ramp up. Our education, our messaging will be a ramp up. We hope that the scheduling and the people who are getting in touch with us to receive the vaccine also ramps up a little bit, but we have seen a slowdown over the last few weeks as far as people calling to be scheduled into receive doses, so we’re really hoping that increases. Blaine County leads the state pretty regularly in doses of COVID vaccine out per population. That’s really been a joint effort between our Health Department and Tribal Health and IHS at Fort Belknap. So we hope to kind of continue to lead in that way and make vaccine opportunities accessible to anyone who is wishing to be vaccinated.”
Blaine County residents interested in receiving a COVID-19 vaccine are urged to call 357-2345. The County primarily receives the two-shot Moderna vaccine, but may get another shipment of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the near future.
The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are only authorized for those 18 and older. 16 and 17 year olds can receive the Pfizer vaccine, which is being provided through a partnership with Fort Belknap Tribal Health.
