MISSOULA — Despite state officials announcing a transition into the next phase of Montana's vaccination plan, health officials say Missoula County will not move to Phase 1B+ quite yet.
The Missoula City-County Health Department (MCCHD) estimates 85% of people in the current 1B category have still not received a COVID-19 vaccine.
- RELATED: Missoula Co. to remain in Phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccination plan
- RELATED: Missoula Co. teachers, staff to receive COVID-19 vaccinations
COVID-19 Incident Commander Cindy Farr says the health department didn’t get a heads up from state administration about vaccine roll-out transitions, but that’s normal.
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services the primary liaison of information to the Governor’s Office.
"Missoula is the second largest populated county in the state we're definitely in that category of people that are just not quite ready to move on to 1B+," Farr explained.
"We want to give the rest of our 1B folks an opportunity to get a vaccine appointment without having to compete with a whole other larger group of people," she added.
Farr told MTN News the health department estimates 45,000 people in Missoula County could still qualify for vaccination before moving on to Phase 1B+.
That transition is expected to happen in the coming weeks.
Additional information about the COVID-19 vaccination plan in Missoula County can be found here.