Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Billings Clinic, the Rehabilitation Hospital of Montana, RiverStone Health and St. Vincent Healthcare published the county’s sixth community needs assessment since 2005 on Wednesday.

As of Sunday, Montana is one of only seven states left without a reported case of monkeypox. Public health officials suspect it’s only a matter of time before that changes.

There are a little more than 62,000 children younger than 5 years old statewide, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. While Montana health officials expect more vaccines for kids in that age group to be ordered in the coming weeks, demand could be lower compared to older children.

Flathead, Lewis and Clark, Cascade, Silver Bow, Gallatin, and Yellowstone counties are included in the “high” designation category.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday gave the final approval for kids 12 to 15 years old to receive a Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot. The move comes as a record number of children in the U.S. are hospitalized for COVID.

State wildlife officials say chronic wasting disease was detected in a deer within the city limits of Baker in southeastern Montana. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that infects members of the deer family.

RiverStone Health said more than 270 people received vaccines at its clinic this weekend, including about 150 children.

COVID-19 cases in K-12 schools are higher now than they were at the same time last year. On Wednesday, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services released its weekly report on the number of COVID-19 cases in K-12 schools.

About a month into the school year, Gallatin County health officials say schools that started the school year with a mask requirement have had fewer COVID-19 cases among students.

As COVID cases continue to climb, the city of Bozeman is launching an incentive program this week to encourage more residents to get vaccinated. Gallatin County has been in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s high transmission category for COVID cases since early August.