The first COVID vaccine started being disseminated in the U.S. on Monday to frontline workers giving hope to health care facilities and the general population. Andy Munce, vice president of Operations at Sanford Sioux Falls says they’ll start administering the vaccine as soon as they receive supplies.

Once the vaccine is available to the broader public Munce says its critical for everyone to get immunized, and that includes farmers and ranchers.

However, Munce says they aren’t totally sure how long the immunity to the vaccine will last.

Paul Hanson, President and CEO of Sanford Sioux Falls says the facilities in rural areas have answered the call which has kept COVID numbers for the farming and rural community at a manageable level.

Sanford officials say COVID numbers in rural areas based on community spread have been very similar across every county in South Dakota.