Bullock details final CARES Act allocations and vaccine distribution plan in press conference

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock gave an update Wednesday on plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccine once vaccines are approved, but warned people to keep practicing the recommendations to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 until vaccine is available.

He said Montanans cannot just wait for a vaccine that is still months away for many.

"That time will come, but, until, then Montana's must stay true to our neighborly spirit and look out for each other," he said.

Bullock said he recently attended a briefing with the nation's governors and the Whitehouse.

He said, based on that briefing it looks like mid-December will see the initial round of vaccines, which the National Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in an emergency meeting Wednesday recommended go to front-line health care workers.

Bullock said the state has been working on plans for distribution of the vaccine, but it is still a work in progress as more information comes in every day.

He also said the COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Team has been hard at work making sure all the moving parts of this plan fit together.

The team, made up of 60 representatives from organizations relevant to distribution, has already been invaluable in making the plan more robust, he said.

Bullock said the first round of the Pfizer vaccine may show up as early as Dec. 15 with 9,750 doses available with the second dose guaranteed, with more of the vaccine to come as weeks go by.

He said, based on current plans, the Moderna vaccine will arrive a week later, and Montanans should expect more information to come.

The state's allocation of the vaccine will be channeled through the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, which is working with partners throughout the state, Bullock said, and the federal government is now working with CVS and Walgreens to get the vaccine to long-term care facilities.

He said Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Services will get their allocation through the federal government as well.

He said the state's partners have experience with vaccine distribution, but under these unique and troubling circumstances the state is providing as much assistance as it can.

Bullock said the state is also creating an FAQ online regarding the vaccine distribution plan for people.

There's reason for hope with the vaccine on the horizon, he said, but there will still be time until it is widely available, time in which many lives could be saved by doing the right thing and taking the pandemic seriously.

Rates still high

Bullock said the state's positivity is around 18 percent as testing remains focused on the symptomatic and close contacts, but the geography is working against testing efforts to some degree.

He said the state is exploring ways to reduce travel times, but Montanans must actively try to reduce the spread of the virus or things aren't going to get better.

"The additional medical staff that traveled from across the country to assist our state deserve our support, and so do all the front-line health care workers here at home, who've been working tirelessly over the past nine months," he said, " ... as do local public health officers and staff who are working long hours with contact tracing work and other community health measures to keep us safe."

Bullock said the lab technicians and workers in these testing facilities also deserve praise and support for their tireless work.

He encouraged people to stay home as much as possible, social distance, and avoid large gatherings, that these are very basic measures that everyone knows and will save lives if observed.

"Wear a damn mask," Bullock said.

State helping find medical staff

Bullock said cases in Montana and the country are still high and hospitals are stretched thin but the state is continuing its efforts to bolster the system.

He said 229 medical staff from around the country have been deployed as front-line health care workers, but the spread of the virus needs to be slowed even with these new workers.

He said the new workers have been deployed to facilities all across the state, including Northern Montana Health Care. Many are helping staff alternative care sites made to alleviate overcrowding due to new COVID-19 cases.

Bullock said the state has requested more staff and he expect more to come in the next few days and weeks.

This new influx of staff, he said, might also help offset the delays many have been seeing when it comes to test turnarounds.

He said the problem isn't as bad as it was over the summer, and testing facilities are adapting and making improvements with many of them processing thousands of tests per day.

CARES Act Allocations

Bullock said the state is working on getting the last of its CARES Act funding out the door as the Dec. 30 spending deadline approaches, as well as further bolstering the medical system amid the third wave of COVID-19.

This is state funds provided through the COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress in March. Congress has been working on additional relief since at least May, but nothing has passed as yet.

Bullock said, while the CARES Act has provided a significant amount of money for the state to work with, nine months of economic impact from the pandemic has drained nearly all of it.

"Those impacts have been enough to exhaust the entire Coronavirus Relief Fund, and yet that's still not enough to offset every financial loss we've seen throughout the state," he said.

Bullock said with the year coming to a close and the Dec. 30 deadline for COVID-19 funds to be spent just around the corner, he wanted to detail how the funds have been spent.

He said $833 million went to grant programs that support businesses, schools, government entities, non-profits and individuals.

Business Stabilization Grants were the most in demand, with $254 million allocated in the form of three rounds of much needed working capital.

Other uses of these various grant programs were for business innovation and adaptability, loan deferment, agriculture adaptability, improved Montana-based meat processing, and economic relief for the live entertainment industry, movie theaters, food pantries, social services, tourism, as well as for census outreach, emergency housing and telework assistance.

COVID-19 funds were also used to pay for three rounds of funding to local public health and for the reimbursement of local governments for pandemic related expenses.

He said said local governments ended up needing $200 million instead of the originally projected $300 million.

Bullock said this difference is likely due to in part to the federal government not allowing the funds to be used for revenue replacement as he anticipated.

He said local governments will still have a final round of funding to reimburse expenses that have a direct or substantial use of COVID-19 relief, and local public health costs for enforcement will still be paid for using this funding.

However, he said, it will not cover presumptively eligible personnel costs that were budgeted for by local government before the pandemic.

Whatever money is left, he said, will go to people and businesses still in need of assistance.

Bullock said the remaining $417 million was allocated through non-grant programs including funds given to the Montana State University system for testing, contact tracing, quarantine efforts and mental health services.

He said another $254 million was used to bolster unemployment insurance, the bulk of which went to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

Funds were also used to pay for COVID-19-related state services, personal protective equipment, additional nursing staff, increased surge capacity for medical facilities, and more.

Bullock said, despite the circumstances, he's satisfied with how the funds have been allocated.

"In many ways, I'm pleased with how we prioritized this funding for all Montanans, for the businesses and non-profits that needed it most. We established 25 unique, targeted grant programs and made available the opportunity of 14,000 businesses of all sizes, for every school district in the state, child care, individuals, non-profits and local governments to apply for funding to help weather these challenging months," he said.

In particular, he said, he wanted to call attention to the state agencies went above and beyond, hiring staff, and finishing grant applications, particularly the Montana Department of Commerce working to move hundreds of millions of dollars to people who needed it.

"In some cases, the department was awarding the same number of grants in a day than it typically does in an entire year," he said.

Bullock also praised them for the creation of the transparency dashboard, make Montana one of the most transparent spenders of COVID-19 related money in U.S.

He said the state is working to ensure funds from other federal government sources are available to continue paying for testing, PPE, and more medical staff going into the new year in Montana.

He said the state will also continue its $200 dollars per week enhancement to unemployment benefits to the end of the year.

As the fund empties, Bullock said, the state will make sure that everything get spent properly so they won't have to send any unspent money back to the federal government.

However, he said, the impacts of the pandemic will continue long beyond the Dec. 30 deadline and Congress needs to put their differences aside and pass a new relief package quickly.

"Further federal action is need to provide states with more support to assist individuals businesses and governments across our country in the new year," Bullock said, "States and their citizens are stuck navigating a pandemic during it's third and highest wave without any federal relief. ... This is a storm that cannot be weathered without federal support."

He said he's hopeful an agreement will be reached by the end of the year, but he's been wrong before.

"I was hopeful three months ago that D.C. would get it's act together," he said.