Health department stages last COVID vaccine clinic

After more than six months in operation, the Flathead City-County Health Department closed out its community immunization clinics at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Tuesday.

Between Jan. 7 and June 14, close to 39,000 vaccinations were administered at the fairground clinics, with more than half of the total doses — 67,339 — administered in Flathead County during that time frame.

In addition to the staff from the health department and Logan Health, a small army of 210 volunteers provided more than 2,000 hours of triage, registration and monitoring as the clinic efficiently worked through a scenario Flathead City-County Health Officer Joe Russell said local incident response teams have been training for more more than two decades.

“I believe the clinic was very effective. When we were at our busiest, we had nine to 10 lanes going 5 minutes apart from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day. I am very pleased with our efficiency,” Russell said. “This is something in the realm of incident response that we train to do.”

As of Tuesday morning, 32,866 people had been fully vaccinated in Flathead County, comprising 37% of the county’s eligible population. While this number is the lowest of Montana’s four most populous counties (Yellowstone 44%, Missoula 59%, Gallatin 52%), Russell said the vaccination numbers are looking good among the most vulnerable populations.

“We have specific populations that have seen a significant uptick in the number of vaccinations received. We have seen 70 to 71% of those age 80 and over that have been vaccinated in Flathead County. We are seeing several sections of the population that are getting their vaccinations — adult school staff, for example. We are seeing good numbers there, more than 60%,” he said.

As of Tuesday, the overall vaccination rate among the eligible population of Montana is 46%.

While Russell said he is pleased to see high vaccination rates among many of the most vulnerable populations, there are other groups where he would like to see a higher number.

“I would love to see the vaccination numbers high in 12- to 15-year-olds that are still in school. Getting vaccinated is what is going to keep them in school. We are not out of the woods and we must continue our response,” he said. “We are seeing it where we need it. Is it a perfect scenario with every category above 80%? I’d love to see that, but we are not there yet. I don’t know if that is a realistic expectation, in this county or any county in Montana. We are going to keep trying to get there.”

Although the mass vaccination site is closing, COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be available to individuals 12 and older in Flathead County at the Flathead City-County Health Department Immunization Clinic. Vaccines will be administered by appointment or walk-in on Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

Individuals who would like to receive a vaccine can call 406-751-8119 or submit an online form at flatheadhealth.org.

In addition, local pharmacies, health-care providers and pop-up clinics throughout the county also are administering vaccines.

Reporter Jeremy Weber may be reached at 758-4446 or jweber@dailyinterlake.com