Montana will receive fewer doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine than state officials had anticipated by the end of the year, Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday, as the pharmaceutical giant and the federal government quarreled over details of the nation's complex distribution effort.

Just days after Montana's health-care workers began receiving the vaccine, Bullock's office said "the state’s anticipated allocation of vaccine doses through the end of the year has been reduced by the federal government by 20%, from 60,000 down to 48,000." More than a dozen other states reported they were told to expect smaller shipments with little explanation from the federal government.

“It’s disappointing news that our anticipated allocations of the vaccine have been reduced, but our priorities remain the same to protect those most vulnerable to severe disease or death from the virus and those who have been serving on the frontlines,” Bullock said in a statement. “We are best utilizing the resources available to further reduce the strain on our hospitals and to save lives.”

After U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Pfizer was grappling with "production challenges," the drugmaker disputed that assertion, saying in a statement Thursday: "Pfizer is not having any production issues with our COVID-19 vaccine, and no shipments containing the vaccine are on hold or delayed. This week, we successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses that we were asked to ship by the U.S. government to the locations specified by them. We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses."

Some of the vaccine being stored in warehouses, however, is being reserved by the government to provide the second dose of the two-dose vaccine for millions of Americans, according to reporting by Bloomberg.

Pfizer did not take money from the federal government's Operation Warp Speed for vaccine research and development, though the parties are working on a deal to purchase 100 million more doses of the vaccine, which Pfizer developed with partner BioNTech, Bloomberg reported.

Bullock's office said Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services had planned to set aside 10,725 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for nearly 300 long-term care facilities in the state, including nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Now that allocation is down to 6,825 doses, which will be administered by pharmacies partnering with the federal government, including CVS, Walgreens and Big Sky Managed Care Pharmacy.

State officials also anticipate receiving 18,300 doses of the vaccine produced by Moderna next week, after it receives emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

"This is the same as previously anticipated, but the number will likely be reduced in coming weeks," Bullock's office said.

Unlike the Pfizer vaccine that must be stored at minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit, the Moderna vaccine is stable at room temperature and comes in smaller boxes, each containing 100 doses, making it easier to deliver to smaller health care facilities in rural areas. Bullock's office said the Moderna vaccine will be distributed to frontline health-care workers at critical-access hospitals and community health centers, and the list of recipients will be finalized next week.

At least 51 people in Flathead County have died of COVID-19. According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States is averaging more than 210,000 new infections and about 2,400 deaths from COVID-19 each day.

Kalispell Regional Medical Center began administering doses of the Pfizer vaccine to health-care workers on Thursday after receiving a box of 975 doses on Tuesday. According to Bullock's office, more than 3,000 health-care workers in Montana had received the first dose of the vaccine as of Friday.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com