Montgomery County will receive a $78,000 grant to help vaccinate some of the hard to reach population. The 18-month grant will be available from July 1 until December 2022.
The statewide grant came from the Center for Disease Control and will be distributed to Indiana counties depending on population.
The county will use the grant, in part, to focus on children ages 12-18, as well as some of the underserved members of the community. It also will go towards marketing education about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Montgomery County is still in yellow with a weekly 10% positivity rate as of Tuesday.
Currently about 40% of Montgomery County residents have been vaccinated, according to the Indiana State Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard. Of that, about 4.5% of those vaccinated range from ages 12-19.
“You know I think the state and the CDC is doing everything it can to help us allow anybody who wants this vaccine access to it,” said Amber Reed, Montgomery County Health Department Administrator. “We’re at a point in our vaccinations, where everyone who would want it should have been able to access it. But we’re obviously only 40% fully vaccinated so we’ve still got some work to do.”
One of the things the MCHD is planning to do to boost vaccination numbers among children is to offer a back-to-school drive where they can get school supplies and the COVID-19 vaccine.
Reed also reminds parents that while it is still undecided whether the COVID vaccine will be required to return to school, there are other state required vaccines children may have missed due to the pandemic.
The MCHD is offering both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines by appointment or walk-in 3-6 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. Local pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Kroger also offer vaccines and details for those locations can be found online or by calling those locations.
