When Will A COVID Vaccine Be Available In Montana?

When Pfizer and Moderna announced their separate COVID vaccines, I breathed the hugest sigh of relief - this year has been rough on everyone, but now I could envision a future where I'm able to travel back home to see my family in New York, where I could go to a concert and jump around in the pit, where I could see a movie in a theater again. I knew it would still be some time before we really got things back to normal, though, and now it looks like we may have an actual timeframe to look forward to.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services have assembled a Vaccination Plan Coordination Team, which held their first meeting this week. And in it, they talked about how vaccines are going to be distributed throughout the state.

First of all, they said they expected Pfizer's vaccine to be available in mid-December, around the 10th or 11th, and then Moderna's would likely arrive a few weeks later. Once they're available, the first priority will be Montana's critical workforce and people with the highest risk of death from catching COVID.

That's for Phase One of the plan, while limited quantities of the vaccine will be available. They expect that three to six months after Phase One, they can begin Phase Two, which is when they'll have an "adequate supply" of the vaccine, and can expand to other groups. They're expecting to have a "sufficient supply" to start Phase Three sometime in the spring.

KPAX has more details about how it all breaks down, and while it does seem like it's still going to take some time, it's a light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, wear your masks, social distance, and don't travel if you don't have to.