Grand Forks looks to boost vaccination rates for 65 and older

Grand Forks health officials hope to increase outreach efforts in rural parts of the county to boost COVID-19 vaccination numbers.  Health Director Debbie Swanson says as of last week only about 55% of those over the age of 75 and 40% of the 65 to 74 crowd had received shots.  Swanson says that falls short of the targeted 60% mark to help achieve so-called herd immunity.  “We anticipate that group will be the greatest at taking vaccines because they have a lot of history with vaccine preventable diseases – but there may be some who are experiencing some barriers.”

Swanson says they plan to work with partners like Northwood Deaconess in Northwood and Spectra Health in Larimore to make sure everyone who wants a shot gets covered.

According to the North Dakota dashboard Grand Forks County has administered 16,782 doses  to date.