Virginia City hosts a mobile vaccine clinic

As of June 15, Madison County reported two active coronavirus cases and 789 confirmed positive cases throughout the pandemic. There are currently no active hospitalizations.

The state of Montana saw an increase of 932 cases over the past week, resulting in a total of 112,761 cases through the pandemic.

An increase of 28 deaths was also reported, and Madison County Public Health Director Emilie Sayler explained this uptick. If the cause of death on a death certificate is related to Covid, those deaths can now be added to the overall Covid death count. Sayler said it does not mean that 28 people died last week, but that 28 more deaths were attributed to Covid in some form. Due to this, Madison County may see an increase in deaths related to Covid without having additional deaths.

Sayler mentioned a statistic she heard that reported 96% of hospitalizations in Montana last week were with nonvaccinated individuals.

Madison County reports 40% of its population as vaccinated with 3,027 fully immunized residents. “Our demand has really fallen for vaccinations in the state,” Sayler said. Those who want it have already been able to receive a vaccine.

The Town of Virginia City is hosting a vaccine clinic on Saturday from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. and those who choose to get the Pfizer vaccine will receive a free beer. The Biden Administration is pushing to get 70% of the country’s population vaccinated by the Fourth of July, and many states and counties are coming up with their own vaccine incentive programs to get the percentages of vaccinated individuals up.

“I don’t feel like incentivizing people for vaccinations is the better choice especially for people in our community,” Sayler said. Education and access are where the Madison County Public Health Department’s mission lies.

“We don’t really want to put the pressure on the community to make that choice,” Sayler said. “If a person wants the vaccine, our responsibility is in access so we’re helping to get it here,” she continued.

Sayler said if the clinic in Virginia City goes well, the health department may look to provide other mobile clinics in the future.

Both nursing homes in the county—Madison Valley Manor (MVM) in Ennis and Tobacco Root Mountains Care Center (TRMCC) in Sheridan—report no staff out due to Covid and no residents quarantined or hospitalized. A county prevalence rate of 4% requires the nursing homes to test unvaccinated staff weekly and residents as needed.

Gail Nelson, nursing home administrator for TRMCC, reported to the Madison County Board of Commissioners that the facility has admitted four residents and lost five. With an aging population, this was expected. TRMCC has received four referrals to be reviewed and is hoping to schedule a meeting with a possible admission this week.