Vaccines

Health experts urge parents to get their child's school vaccinations now. Those who aren't vaccinated on the first day of school will be sent home.

In 2021, Montana passed House Bill 702 — the first of its kind in the nation — which prohibited discrimination based on vaccine status in settings like employment, education, and health care. This year, lawmakers have introduced proposals to expand vaccine exemptions in schools and change criteria in the workplace and the legal system.

House Bill 702 had barred employers from mandating vaccines or requiring employees share their vaccine status. U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that it was unconstitutional and conflicted with federal law.

The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday sent a legal challenge to a law banning vaccine mandates back to a lower court on a technicality. The decision is part of an ongoing legal battle over House Bill 702, which bans workplace vaccine requirements and discrimination based on vaccination status.

Law professors and attorneys said this appears to be the first time that pandemic-related laws have been challenged in court over an alleged infringement on tribal sovereignty.

Early indicators have state public health officials bracing for what could be a significant influenza season, prompting them to urge Montanans to get their flu shot in the coming weeks.

How Republicans in Montana hijacked public health and brought a hospital to the brink

The first case of Monkeypox in Montana was confirmed in a Flathead County in early August, followed by another in Gallatin County. State health officials say they have received vaccines and are working with local public health departments to track the virus.

The state health department says the administrative rule changes are being proposed because of new laws against religious and vaccination restrictions.

Some Canadian parents are making the trek into Montana to get their young children vaccinated against COVID-19.