Following Tester Efforts, Montana to See More Than 1,100 Additional COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Next Week

Senator pushed Biden Administration to escalate vaccine allocations to Montana after low per capita numbers last month

As part of his push to bring more COVID-19 vaccines into Montana after the state received low per capita allocations, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced that following his efforts, next week Montana will receive an increase of 1,170 Pfizer vaccines over last week’s supply, totaling 24,440 first doses of vaccine. As of today, a total of 269,222 doses have been administered in Montana and 94,766 individuals are fully immunized.

These doses are specifically allocated to the state and do not include doses allocated to the Department of Veterans Affairs or Indian Health Services for Montana locations.

“Right now, getting vaccines in arms is the name of the game when it comes to helping our state recover from this crisis as quickly as possible,” said Tester. “This is great news because more vaccines means that we’re one step closer to reopening our economy and getting folks back to work. I’m proud to have worked with Montana advocates as well as the Administration to bring more vaccines into our state, and I won’t stop fighting until everyone who wants a vaccine is able to get one-free of charge.”

Last month, Tester demanded that the Biden Administration distribute a fair share of vaccines to Montana after it was revealed that the state was receiving one of the lowest per capita allocations of coronavirus vaccines in the country, despite the state’s strong record of efficiently distributing shots. Following his efforts, Montana received a significant increase in COVID-19 vaccines last week.

Tester fought tirelessly to secure $11 billion as a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, including $156 million for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to accelerate research and development of treatment and vaccines, and to secure additional funding of $4.5 billion for vaccine distribution and administration in the December COVID relief package.

As the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, he also secured $19.6 billion to strengthen VA’s response to the outbreak and is working to include additional funding in the COVID-19 relief package to protect veterans and staff. Over the last month, he has announced vaccine distributions in multiple locations across Montana, with hundreds of vaccines expected to be administered to eligible veterans in other cities in the coming weeks.