As vaccinations continue to be distributed throughout the Panhandle, officials with COVID-19 Unified Command are urging people who have not yet received the vaccine to get vaccinated in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.
According to information from Panhandle Public Health District, 31 percent of Panhandle residents have been vaccinated so far. Box Butte County has seen a 30 percent vaccination rate.
Dr. Matthew Donahue, Acting State Epidemiologist with the Department of Health and Human Services spoke during the weekly briefing by Unified Command. He urged people to receive the vaccine.
“The overall bottom line is—vaccine is working—keeping people out of the hospital, reducing transmission throughout our state; and it’s doing it despite the presence of each of the primary variants detected in Nebraska,” said Donahue.
Throughout the state, as of Monday, there have been 31 cases of the Delta B1617 variant identified, with eight cases in the Panhandle.
“It’s all of our responsibility to talk to our loved ones and friends about vaccination,” Donahue said. “Vaccination is why fewer people are dying, why fewer people are hospitalized, and it’s how we are getting back to normal. Choosing vaccination is making our homes, workplaces, and get-togethers safer. We have a solution; we just need to use it.”
In Box Butte and Grant Counties, walk-ins are welcome at Dave’s Pharmacy in Hemingford and Alliance Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and at Alliance Community Pharmacy from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. People may also register at https://tinyurl.com/25mwaapu, or at safeway.com.
Since the outbreak began, Box Butte County has seen a total of 957 positive cases of COVID-19, seven of which have been diagnosed in the last 14 days. Eleven of Box Butte County’s residents have died due to COVID-19.