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More Than 100K Montanans Fully Immunized Against COVID-19

A COVID-19 vaccination center at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, January 6, 2021.
Nick Mott
/
Montana Public Radio
A COVID-19 vaccination center at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, January 6, 2021.

Montana hit two milestones Friday in the COVID-19 pandemic. State data shows the number of fully immunized Montanans surpassed the threshold of 100,000 people, about 10 percent of the state’s population. There are also more fully immunized people (105,977) in Montana now than the total number of COVID-19 cases (100,656) since last March.

“This encouraging milestone is a testament to the tireless efforts of our health care workers who are administering these safe, effective vaccines. It’s also a testament to Montanans who have taken steps to protect themselves, their families, and their neighbors from the spread of the virus,” Governor Gianforte said in a press release Friday. “We’ll keep up our efforts as the light at the end of the tunnel shines more brightly with each passing day.”

With the one year anniversary of Montana’s first confirmed cases coming up on March 13th, Montana’s Chief Medical Officer Greg Holzman told YPR local public health departments have accomplished a lot under very difficult circumstances.

“Every decision that they’ve made, they’ve made for what they believed was the right thing to do at that time to help protect the community. And I just think our local public health folks need a lot of kudos and a lot of support for the incredible work they’ve done with trying to work with everyone in the community,” Holzman said.

Holzman encourages people to continue mask wearing, hand washing, physical distancing and avoiding crowds to keep cases low.

As of Friday, Montana had 1,736 active cases and 67 hospitalizations. State data shows 1,379 Montanans have died from COVID-19.