First doses of vaccines expected to arrive Dec. 15-16

Montana is hopeful it will receive the first round of coronavirus vaccines Dec. 15 or 16, Gov. Steve Bullock said in a press conference Wednesday.

Bullock said the state expects 9,750 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which has to be stored at extremely low temperatures.

Frontline healthcare workers are targeted for the first doses. If all goes well, the first round of the Moderna vaccines could come the following week.

Bullock said the initial doses are based on population and what Pfizer can initially produce.

The state’s allocation will be channeled through the Department of Health and Human Services.

Broadly defined, Montana has between 45,000 and 60,000 healthcare workers, Bullock noted.

In addition, it has about 10,000 people and staff living and working in long-term care facilities. They are targeted for the first rounds of vaccines as its rolled out.

Bullock said that maybe by the end of the calendar year, 30,000 people in the state would be vaccinated.

He also said the state had allocated its remaining CARES Act funds. The state was allocated $1.25 billion last spring to fight the virus. If the state doesn’t use it by the end of the year, it has to give the funding back to the federal government.

The state will use the funds for more supplies, enhanced unemployment benefits and unemployment insurance relief for businesses, some 43,000 businesses were looking at an unemployment insurance tax hike of 85%. There was also additional funding for personal protective equipment and other programs.

He said the funding still wasn’t enough to offset losses from the pandemic.

Roughly 14,000 businesses across the state took advantage of relief funding of some sort.

He also called on Congress to pass another relief package soon.

“This is a storm that cannot be weathered without federal support,” he said.