5,000-plus doses of vaccine given in Flathead County

A new online dashboard created and maintained by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services shows Flathead County has administered more than 5,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to residents and nearly 1,300 individuals are fully immunized.

The tool officially launched Monday and includes information on total vaccine doses administered, Montanans fully immunized and doses administered per 1,000 eligible people across the state’s 56 counties.

To date, nearly 78,000 vaccine doses have been administered statewide, with nearly 15,000 Montanans fully immunized, meaning they have received both doses of either the Moderna or the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine.

“With over 77,000 safe and effective vaccine doses administered in Montana, we can continue to make strides to protect the most vulnerable. We can make even greater progress if the federal government increases our supply,” Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a prepared statement. “I encourage Montanans to use this dashboard to stay up-to-date on our progress to save lives and make the vaccine available to everyone who wants one.”

Flathead County, which is home to nearly 84,000 vaccine-eligible individuals, according to the dashboard, currently ranks No. 6 in the state for number of doses administered, at 5,314 doses with 1,272 of those being fully immunized. That means just over 4,000 individuals have received their first shot of the dual-dose vaccine, with their second shot to be administered in the coming weeks. All told, 63.4 doses per 1,000 Flathead County residents have been given.

YELLOWSTONE COUNTY, which has been one of the hardest hit by the virus since it was first detected in March 2020, has given 13,918 total doses. Yellowstone is followed by Missoula at 10,138, Gallatin at 6,230, Cascade at 5,891 and Lewis and Clark at 5,523.

“There’s much work ahead, but the new map shows the progress that has been made administering the vaccine to residents in local communities statewide,” Department of Public Health and Human Services Acting Director Erica Johnson said in a prepared statement.

Montana is currently in Phase 1B of Gianforte’s vaccine distribution plan. Under this leg, persons ages 70 and older, American Indians and other people of color and those ages 16 to 69 with high-risk medical conditions are eligible to be vaccinated.

For Flathead County, Phase 1B launched last week.

The Flathead City-County Health Department is vaccinating people on an appointment only basis at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

In a recent interview, Health Officer Joe Russell, who is leading the local vaccination efforts, said the first week was a success and said he has faith in the system they have chosen. He said the health department has received thousands of calls and voicemails in recent weeks from folks eager to be immunized and that those individuals are being contacted by health department staff to schedule an appointment as more vaccines become available.

Prior to launching Phase 1B, which Russell said should include at least 30,000 Flathead County residents, the area wrapped up Phase 1A. That leg of the distribution plan was dedicated to health-care workers who were considered high risk for contracting the disease, among other patient-facing health-care employees.

The new dashboard can be viewed at https://dphhs.mt.gov/covid19vaccine

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com