Elkhart County Health Officer pushing for 70 percent vaccination rate over next 3 months

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind.--- Elkhart County Health Officer Dr. Bethany Wait told The Elkhart Truth she plans to push for 70 percent of adults in the county to be vaccinated within 90 days of April 1st. That goal would allow the county to achieve herd immunity by the time the Elkhart County 4H Fair starts in July.

"We know that the community is ready to get out and have fun and enjoy, but we’re also know that everyone is being a little bit cautious," said Miranda Muir, General Manger of the Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds. "To get to a point where we felt comfortable, where we had the herd immunity, we had enough people that had been vaccinated, to be able to just host a summer event that everybody is looking forward to that is such a part of the community, that would be amazing."

Wait tells The Elkhart Truth she's planning a public relations campaign to improve confidence in the vaccine. Muir says even the thought of achieving herd immunity in time for the fair makes planning easier.

"For our visitors to know that they can come in and be safe and not have that worry over their head, wouldn’t that be amazing if we knew that we could go out and enjoy fun times again," said Muir. "To able to get out and see people again, and to see people at our fairgrounds and hear the noise and smell the smells, getting people hear is going to be so exciting when it finally happens."