As of Tuesday, December 1, 2020, Montana reports 63,205 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,015 new cases reported in the last day: 218 in Cascade County, 137 in Lewis & Clark County, 101 in Yellowstone County, 91 in Flathead County, 67 in Gallatin County, 42 in Silver Bow County, 37 in Missoula County, 29 in Big Horn County, 29 in Jefferson County, and more new cases in 41 more Montana counties. Statewide, 2,680 people have been hospitalized, and 495 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 16,157. The most active cases are in Yellowstone and Flathead County, Cascade, Lewis & Clark, and Missoula Counties. 698 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Seventeen more deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 269,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 13,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities will be the first groups to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, according to a new proposal from an independent advisory committee within the CDC. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met to discuss who would receive the first doses of the vaccine, and to vote on the proposed language for the recommendation. The first phase of the vaccine rollout will be known as Phase 1a and is be set to begin as soon as a vaccine receives authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, expected to happen later this month. The two groups in Phase 1a together represent around 23 million Americans out of 330 million.

On average, one person is dying of COVID-19 per minute in the U.S. right now. The demand for vaccines is worldwide but the supply will be limited.
Later this month, the FDA will consider approval of two vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna. Current estimates project that no more than 20 million doses of each vaccine will be available by the end of 2020. And each immunization requires two doses. As a result, the shots will be rationed in the early stages.
The advisory panel will meet again to decide who should be next in line. Among the possibilities: teachers, police, firefighters and workers in other essential fields such as food production and transportation, as well as the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions

The head of the National Institutes of Health warns that the pandemic will ‘go on and on and on’ if people refuse to take the vaccine.
Want the pandemic to be over? Get vaccinated when a vaccine becomes available. That was the blunt message Tuesday from Dr. Francis Collins, who heads the National Institutes of Health and is a member of the White House coronavirus task force.

Canada will extend the travel ban with the U.S. as coronavirus continues unchecked. The ban on non-essential travel will stay in place until the coronavirus outbreak is significantly under control around the world, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Trudeau’s comments were a clear indication that the border restrictions will last well into 2021. Canada and the U.S. agreed to the ban in March and have rolled it over on a monthly basis ever since.