Nearly 59% of Texas is fully vaccinated but Bell County is among the lowest when it comes to vaccinations.
“For those that are five and older, ineligible for the vaccine and fully vaccinated, is close to 42%,” said Bell County Public Health District Interim Director Nikki Morrow.
However, Nikki Morrow with Bell County Public Health District said active-duty military living on and off Fort Hood plus retired military are not included in those numbers.
“Even contractors and civilian employees of Fort Hood, we do not see their vaccination numbers in our rate that’s reported to DSHS,” said Morrow.
They're still pushing for more to get vaccinated as well as get their booster shots.
“Immunity rates actually went down quite a bit but we’re getting the booster shot and it's gotten the rates back up onto the 90% range,” said Texas A&M University-Central Department of Nursing Director & Chair Amy Mersiovsky.
Health experts say Pfizer and Moderna immunity dropped to 80-70%, 5 months after the second dose.
“Johnson and Johnson probably need to get that booster shot as quickly as possible because their immunity is down really low,” said Mersiovsky.
Morrow said it’s also important to get young ones vaccinated since families are traveling for the holidays.
“We’ve been working with our local schools to have vaccine events in coordination with our school. It makes it easier for school-age children to get vaccinated. Makes it easier for the parents when you’re getting off of work and picking up kids at school,” said Morrow
Morrow said we’ve only seen a small set of breakthrough cases in our area, while the vast majority of new cases are unvaccinated. She said cases will likely pick up during the holidays.
