Letter to Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States - Daines, Rosendale Urge President Biden to Send More Vaccines to Montana Immediately
Letter
Dear President Biden:
As members of the Montana Congressional delegation, we write to you today regarding Montana's
limited COVID-19 vaccine supply and support for Governor Gianforte's requests for an immediate
increase in vaccine doses to Montana. Despite Montana's highly effective COVID-19 vaccine
distribution and administration, the state has not been granted appropriate dose allocations. While we are
pleased that Montanans are interested in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, our state is experiencing an
extraordinary demand for the vaccine that cannot be met with the current federal supply. We respectfully
request that your administration work to produce and send more vaccines to Montana immediately.
Montanans and Americans across the country need access to the COVID-19 vaccine. It is deeply
troubling to learn from recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data that Montana
ranks near the bottom in terms of COVID-19 vaccine allocations to states by the federal government.
Our state receives approximately 18,500 first doses per week, while it requires at least 25,000 to 30,000
first doses per week to satisfy current demand. Moreover, Montana needs to have greater transparency
and predictability regarding federal COVID-19 vaccine allocation and supply. This will help ensure the
most effective planning and distribution of vaccines throughout the state as demand continues to surge.
We appreciate your recent commitment to provide states with a three-week forecast of upcoming
vaccine shipments, but this is not enough -- highly rural states like Montana need even more time to
adequately prepare for vaccine distribution.
We look forward to working with you and your administration to ensure that Montanans have increased
access to the COVID-19 vaccine and states have access to timely vaccine allocation projections.
Montana has a proven track record for effective vaccine administration and distribution, and we are
confident in the state's ability to expand its efforts if provided with additional COVID-19 vaccine doses
weekly. Thank you for your consideration of this critical request.
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