All Yellowstone Co. Residents 16+ Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine

Just last week, Governor Greg Gianforte announced that beginning April 1, ALL Montanans aged 16 and older would be eligible for the vaccine.

And now, with more than 1,000 COVID-19 vaccination appointments still open this week for Yellowstone County's priority groups, RiverStone Health announced today (Tuesday 3/23) that ALL county residents 16 years of age and older, are now eligible to receive a vaccination.

RiverStone Health CEO, and county public health officer John Felton said that "expanding COVID-19 vaccine availability to all Yellowstone County residents age 16-plus is a good sign that we are moving in the right direction and on our way to a more normal life."

Nearly 128,000 residents will be eligible to receive a vaccine, according to the press release, and appointments for this weeks vaccine clinic at MetraPark are now open for tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday.

Advance appointments can be made immediately at mtreadyclinic.org, or by clicking HERE.

This week's COVID-19 vaccine clinics in Cedar Hall at MetraPark will be held:

Wednesday, March 24: 1pm-4:30pm
Thursday, March 25: 8am-11:30am and 1pm-4:30pm
Friday, March 26: 8am-12noon

Second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered at the Shrine Auditorium, three weeks after first dose.

Unified Health Command is organizing the vaccination clinics, and they remind residents to wear a short sleeve shirt to their appointment for easy access to receive the vaccine shot.

Residents should wait in their vehicles until 5 minutes before their appointment time, according to the press release, and masks are required when inside of Cedar Hall, or in the Shrine Auditorium. After receiving the vaccine shot, you'll need to remain at the clinic for 15 minutes, or 30 minutes if you have a history of "certain allergic reactions."

So far, only about 20% of this population has been fully immunized against COVID-19, according to DPHHS. Between 70% and 85% of residents need to be immunized to protect our community against the virus. -RiverStone Health press release

If you would like more information about the COVID-19 vaccination, CLICK HERE.

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Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.