HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Hill County Health Board met virtually on Friday afternoon to provide a COVID-19 update.
As of Friday morning, 1,641 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to Hill County residents. 202 of those were people receiving the second dose. These numbers include Hill County residents that were inoculated at the Rocky Boy Health Center.
Larson says there have been a handful of people that have experienced minor issues after receiving the vaccine, such as fever or body aches, but that is not unexpected.
“We just want to reiterate that that is a normal immune response,” says Health Officer Kim Larson. “You should expect something like that. You can actually get that from any vaccine you receive. It means that your body is producing an immune response, and in the future you will then be able to fight off COVID-19 if you are exposed to it.”
Larson says that the vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections shortly after people receive the second dose. Anyone that does not receive the second dose will not be considered fully vaccinated.
Larson says they continue to expect to receive and administer around 200 vaccines per week. There are currently around 65 people at least 70 years old on the waiting list and 410 people on the waiting list for ages 18-69 with underlying conditions. Once the waiting list for people 70 and older is exhausted, the County will begin vaccinating the people on the 18-69 with underlying conditions wait list. However, those over 70 that haven’t registered will still be able to sign up to get the vaccine.
As of Thursday evening, Hill County has reported a total of 1,802 COVID-19 cases. 17 are active, and Larson says it is “exciting news” that the active case count has continued to drop over the last several weeks. There are currently 89 people in quarantine after being identified as close contacts.
At the end of the meeting, the Board made the decision to shift the meetings to a bi-weekly basis due to the lower case counts of late. The next COVID update will be provided at 1 PM on February 12th.
