BOZEMAN — Herd immunity - a term you’ve probably heard a few times as we navigate further into this pandemic.
It’s when a large portion of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of the disease unlikely.
Gallatin county currently has 47 percent of its population fully vaccinated… but is that enough to achieve herd immunity?
MTN News spoke with Matt Kelley for that answer.
“We don’t know that number exactly, and that number is likely going up because of the presence of the variant strains. Early on in the pandemic, we thought 70 percent, 80 percent would do the trick, and it might be now that number has climbed significantly higher,” explained Kelley, the Gallatin County health officer.
Kelley also said to achieve herd immunity, efforts would have to be nationwide not just individual counties.
