As of Thursday, March 18, 2021, Montana reports 102,616 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 149 new cases reported in the last day: 33 in Gallatin County, 31 in Missoula County, 14 in Flathead County, 11 in Ravalli County, 9 in Yellowstone County, and more new cases in 20 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 993. Currently, 57 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Gallatin, Missoula, and Yellowstone Counties. 1,406 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Ten more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 538,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 29,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

President Joe Biden said that the US is expected to hit his administration’s target of 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses delivered to American arms on Friday. The President had initially set out his goal of administering 100 million doses within his first 100 days in office, but Biden said America is on track to reach that goal by his 60th day in office. President Biden’s remarks come as the White House races to prevent and prepare for a potential fourth coronavirus surge and more transmissible coronavirus variants spread across the US. In preparation for such a surge, the White House is investing billions of dollars to boost coronavirus preparedness, accelerating the pace of vaccinations and working to prepare the public and governors. And in what would be a first, the White House is drawing up plans to surge vaccines to emerging hotspots in an attempt to blunt the virus’ trajectory and protect those at highest risk.

The Gallatin City-County Health Department plans to expand vaccination efforts at the fairgrounds in Bozeman with help from private agencies and the National Guard. In the coming weeks, the health department will offer clinics Mondays through Thursdays with help from Montana National Guard troops and health care companies, which the county is in the process of selecting, said Emergency Management Chief Patrick Lonergan. Two days will be reserved for administering first doses and two for second doses. The health department to date has scheduled clinics a few days each week based on vaccine allocations from the state, which has forced the department to make last-minute calls to its employees, local fire departments, ambulance service providers, health care workers and volunteers asking if they can run the clinics. About 13% of the eligible population of Gallatin County has been vaccinated. Other local organizations, including Bozeman Health, Community Health Partners and Montana State University, are scheduling people for appointments using the vaccines allocated by the state. The federal government is also assisting by providing vaccines to veterans and to some pharmacies, which have offered vaccinations at long-term care facilities and are hosting clinics for teachers.

The Montana VA Health Care System’s largest veteran COVID-19 vaccination clinic so far is taking place Saturday in Helena with 1,000 first-dose appointments for the Moderna vaccine for veterans enrolled to get their health care at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center. The VA is joining with the Montana Army National Guard and will hold the clinic at the National Guard’s Aviation Readiness Center, at 3330 Skyway Drive, near the Helena Regional Airport. And four more COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be held over the next two weeks for Lewis and Clark County residents included in Phase 1B+ or any prior phases. The first-dose Pfizer vaccine clinics will be held at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds.

The federal government has announced an extension to filing income taxes this year, and Montana is also extending its deadline for filing 2020 tax returns to May 17 to match the new federal deadline. Deadlines for filing quarterly income taxes in 2021 have not changed. The new federal stimulus plan allows filers to exclude the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits from their 2020 federal taxes if they made less than $150,000. Those who have already filed will not have to amend their returns.