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STANFORD – Almost 27 percent of Lincoln County’s population has been vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the Lincoln County Health Department (LCHD).

Lincoln County’s population is around 24,549, according to the United States Census Bureau.

LCHD Director Diane Miller said last week that 58.53 percent of ages 65 and older have been vaccinated and 31.48 percent of ages 18 through 64 have received vaccinations.

As of Tuesday this week, Miller reported a total of 75 active COVID-19 cases in Lincoln County and said 45 household contacts to those cases were being monitored.

There was one person hospitalized due to the virus this week, Miller said. Last week, one new death was sent to the state for review and LCHD reported a total of 50 COVID-19-related deaths to date since the start of the outbreak.

The health department has received a new shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Miller said, and will resume administering those vaccinations to anyone interested.

“If anyone is interested in that vaccine, they can just call our department and get registered,” she said. “I still have Moderna in inventory also for anyone who is interested in that they can do the same for that.”

Miller continues to stress the importance of keeping social guidelines in place, such as wearing masks and social distancing, while communities work on building their “herd immunity.”

“Those individuals that have hesitancy about taking the vaccine, I just encourage them to educate themselves on each vaccine where they can make an informed decision as to whether that’s right for them,” Miller said. “As we get more individuals vaccinated in the county… that should increase our herd immunity and that’s what we’re looking for, that herd immunity, so we can get back to some normalcy,” she said.