Teton Countyâs not out of the viral woods yet, but some aspects of the coronavirus response are being scaled down.
Case numbers have declined, with 60 new cases between April 9 and 22, a 39% decrease from the previous two-week period, Director of Health Jodie Pond told the Teton County Board of County Commissioners Monday. That has corresponded with a low positivity rate, just 2.67%, though itâs not all good news.
âEven though our positivity rate is low, our testing numbers are also very low. And so thatâs a little concerning,â Pond said, noting that 62% of cases in the past two weeks have been from community spread, rather than being traceable back to an individual sick person.
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Roughly two in five Teton County residents are fully vaccinated.
Thatâs almost double the statewide rate, according to Wyoming Department of Health data. Despite the rosy numbers, however, any threshold of community protection isnât worth much if itâs only at the county level.
âUntil the whole state and the people that are traveling here are fully vaccinated, you personally might be safer, but that doesnât mean that we can get this pandemic behind us,â county Director of Health Jodie Pond said.
Still, the numbers are an encouraging sign that the county is charging forward in its vaccination campaign. The Wyoming Health Department now publishes county-level immunization estimates, and Teton County has a much higher rate than any other in Wyoming at 39.72% as of Tuesday afternoon, though that data may lag by up to 72 hours.
Though you have to wait until next year to buy cheap home goods and sundries at Target, you will be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine there soon.Â
With little fanfare, the Teton County Board of County Commissioners approved a contract to use the old Kmart/future Target building as a mass vaccination clinic. Vaccine supply has finally increased to the point that the Teton County Health Department has been on the hunt for a larger-capacity site.
Mass vaccination clinics have been taking place at the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole, but the capacity is limited to 400 to 500 shots a day. The choke point is the waiting area, because people have to stay for 15 minutes after the inoculation so health care workers can monitor them for adverse reactions.