As of Thursday, March 25, 2021, Montana reports 103,830 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 174 new cases reported in the last day: 66 in Gallatin County,24 in Yellowstone County, 16 in Missoula County, 11 in Silver Bow County, 10 in Cascade County, and more new cases in 16 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 957. Currently, 48 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Gallatin, Missoula, and Yellowstone Counties. 1,435 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Sixteen more deaths have been reported in the last two days. Nationwide, more than 545,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 30,000,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

President Joe Biden has announced $10 billion in a vaccine access effort aimed at hard-hit communities. Much of the funding comes from the recently enacted American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package. Much of the money, $6 billion, will go out next month to 1,400 federally funded community health centers that serve patients at high risk of infection and death from the coronavirus. The funds can be used to increase vaccinations, testing and treatment for those patients, as well as improve overall preventive care, by improving physical infrastructure and adding mobile units. The Biden administration has been racing to pick up the pace of vaccinations as new variants of the virus emerge and as the numbers of new cases have appeared to tick up slightly in recent days. The U.S. has been giving around 2.5 million shots a day, and President Biden’s goal of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office was accomplished in just 60 days.

Gallatin County announced plans this week to open vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older on April 1 while still prioritizing older and at-risk people who have not been able to get appointments. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte announced earlier this month that the state changed its COVID vaccine eligibility plan to offer appointments for everyone 16 and older starting April 1. Some counties, like Yellowstone County, have already opened eligibility to people 16 and older. But Gallatin County — where some residents stymied by a shortage of available appointments have made the trek to Billings, Great Falls and elsewhere to snag a vaccine — announced Tuesday that it would honor the state’s directive but will “continue to provide expanded access to people in higher-risk groups.” Gallatin County will likely hold clinics specifically for people 60 and older and Montanans 16 to 59 with qualifying medical conditions and people of color and Native American people — all individuals in a 1B+ vaccination category — until the demand is satisfied. The county is working with the National Guard and some private companies to staff vaccine clinics.

A Montana State Senate panel is considering confirming—or denying—two judicial appointments made by Montana’s former Democratic governor Steve Bullock: District Court judges Chris Abbott, who has been presiding over the Lewis and Clark County District Court bench for five months, and Michele Levine, who was sworn in for Cascade County in November and already has a docket of 1,200 cases. The judicial confirmation process this year is draped in uncertainty. Montana’s new Republican governor signed a bill eliminating the judicial nomination commission that nominated three judges: Ohman, Abbott and Levine for appointment. The judicial nominating commission was adopted in the Montana Constitution after the constitutional convention in 1972, specifically to remove the ability of a governor to make direct appointments in a process that was too politically-motivated. The bill earlier this session, which Gov. Greg Gianforte signed last week, grants the governor direct appointment power once a judge vacates the bench. If the current judicial appointments are rejected, Gianforte would put his own judicial appointments forward. The day after Gianforte signed Senate Bill 140, giving himself direct appointment power over judicial vacancies, former lawmakers and officials petitioned the Montana Supreme Court to strike the law down as unconstitutional. On Wednesday, Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath, a former Democratic Attorney General for Montana, recused himself from the case.