No more waiting. Get a vaccine. Please.

As of this week, 46% of Jefferson County residents aged 12 and older had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s more than in many rural Montana counties, but lower than the state total of 49%, which in turn is slightly below the U.S. average.

It’s not good enough.

After months of close to (but not quite) zero infections here, the coronavirus is returning. It’s nothing like the vicious spike of last fall and winter, when as many as dozens of residents fell ill every day: In the two weeks ended Aug. 9, the county’s Public Health Department reported 30 new infections.