At a press conference in Helena on Wednesday, Governor Greg Gianforte provided an update on the progress the state is making against the COVID 19 pandemic.

“Over the past month, Montana averaged only 107 new cases per day, with a 43% decline from February and the 70% decline from January,” said Gianforte. “This is real progress. We're also seeing an encouraging decline in hospitalizations, with an average of 55 people in the hospital this month. This is a 41% decline from last month, and as of today, Montana has administered more than 487,000 doses to Montanans, with more than 231,000 doses in the month of March alone.”

Gianforte also said he has issued a directive for many of the state’s pharmacies.

“I issued a directive yesterday to make it easier for pharmacies to efficiently administer doses to more Montanans,” he said. “This directive authorizes pharmacists to use licensed qualified health providers to assist in vaccine administration during the state of emergency.”

Gianforte then announced that Montana will be receiving more COVID 19 vaccines in the next weeks.

“I'm pleased to announce that Montana will be seeing an uptick in our vaccine shipment this week,” he said. “With roughly 15,000 doses of Pfizer, nearly 11,000 doses of Moderna and 15,600 doses of Johnson and Johnson, Montana is slated to receive 41,610 first doses this week. In addition to the second doses we'll also be receiving.”

Gianforte said Montanans may now seek vaccinations from certain pharmacies, if they cannot make arrangements with their county health departments.

“In various communities across Montana, there may also be vaccines available through the federal retail pharmacy program at a Walgreens, CVS, Safeway, Albertsons, and Wal-Mart, for example,” he said. “To find out if there's available vaccine in your community through our retail pharmacy, you can visit vaccine finder.org”

In addition, on Wednesday, Governor Gianforte signed HB 200 that officially bans sanctuary cities in Montana.

 

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