Tester Announces More Than 1,800 COVID-19 Vaccines for Montana Veterans and Spouses this Week

Hundreds of vaccines slated for veterans and families in Missoula, Billings, Bozeman, and Helena following signing of Tester’s SAVE LIVES Act

As a part of his continued push to ensure veterans and their families are protected during the ongoing pandemic, U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced that following his efforts as Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the Montana VA Health Care System is set to receive 1,843 COVID-19 vaccines this week for veterans and staff across the Treasure State.

“These additional vaccines are great news for hundreds of veterans and spouses across Montana—especially those in rural areas—who were previously not eligible for vaccines from VA,” said Chairman Tester. “The Department has proven it can quickly deliver vaccines where they’re most needed, and I’m proud to have worked with the Administration to secure this week’s allocations. These doses will help protect veterans and families as we work to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus and reopen more communities as quickly as possible.”

Appointments for veterans and staff will be available at the following COVID-19 vaccination clinics across the state:

Missoula

• 100 first doses and 63 second doses will be administered on Wednesday, April 14

Billings

• 100 first doses will be administered on Thursday, April 15
• 80 second doses will be administered on Friday, April 16

Bozeman

• 200 first doses and 200 second doses will be administered on Friday, April 16

Helena

• 500 first doses and 500 second doses will be administered on Saturday, April 17

The Montana VA Health Care System began administering COVID-19 vaccines to all veterans, spouses, and caregivers at the beginning of the month as a result of Chairman Tester’s bipartisan Strengthening and Amplifying Vaccination Efforts to Locally Immunize all Veterans and Every Spouse Act (SAVE LIVES Act)—law allowing the Department to provide COVID vaccination services to veterans and their families, regardless of whether they are enrolled in VA health care.

Veterans who would like to verify their eligibility to receive a COVID-19 vaccine under Tester’s SAVE LIVES Act, must contact (877) 468-8387 select Option 2, and then Option 2 again. This includes Priority 8e and 8g Veterans. Once eligibility is verified, qualifying veterans, their spouses or veteran caregivers can schedule a vaccination at any of the upcoming Montana VA COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

For months, Tester has been fighting to ensure Montana’s veterans and VA staff—especially those in rural areas—get their fair share of the COVID-19 vaccine supply. He has continually announced vaccine distributions across Montana, with hundreds of vaccines expected to be administered to eligible veterans in other cities in the coming weeks. Last month, he also successfully secured billions in the COVID-19 relief package to vaccinate, support and protect veterans in Montana and across the country.