(news release from RiverStone Health)
Appointments for the sixth week of the free, Yellowstone County community COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Cedar Hall at MetraPark may be made online starting at 2 p.m. today, Thursday, March 22. The Unified Health Command (UHC) expects to have 2,340 first-dose appointments available the week of March 22. Clinics are scheduled:
· Wednesday, March 24: 8 – 11:30 a.m. AND 1 – 4:30 p.m.
· Thursday, March 25: 8 –11:30 a.m. AND 1 – 4:30 p.m.
· Friday, March 26: 8 – noon.
To schedule a first-dose vaccination appointment, go to mtreadyclinic.org and click on the blue button that says: Find a Clinic and scroll down. It’s best to use an internet browser like Google Chrome or Firefox to access the appointments.
Beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 22, appointments will be available by calling 406.651.6596. Appointments have been saved for people without the ability to schedule online.
Appointments are available to Yellowstone County residents who meet the criteria for the 1A, 1B or 1B+ priority groups established by the state of Montana. Priority group details are provided at covid.riverstonehealth.org.
The state of Montana will expand vaccine eligibility to all Montanans age 16 and older starting on April 1, but not before that date.
As safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available in Yellowstone County, a few thousand county residents are being vaccinated each week. About 23,500 county residents have been fully vaccinated and about 16,500 have tested positive for the virus over the last year. While there is some overlap in the vaccinated and COVID-19 infected populations, RiverStone Health estimates that approximately 25% of county residents have immunity through vaccination or by infection. For residents to be protected from COVID-19, at least 75% of the population will need to be immune through vaccination or through natural infection.