Four hundred Montana veterans are expected to receive their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Wednesday.

That’s according to a news release from the Montana VA Health Care System, which was selected to lead a national pilot program that aims to bring vaccines to veterans in rural communities.

The vaccines will arrive to Kalispell via plane from the Fort Harrison Medical Center where the vaccines are currently stored in temperature-controlled freezers. The clinic will take place at the fairgrounds in Kalispell, where the Flathead City-County Health Department already has been administering doses to qualifying individuals since early January.

Staff from four different VA Health Care Systems are expected to assist with immunizations.

“These vaccines save lives and we are grateful to be able to get these doses to rural veterans as soon as possible,” Dr. Judy Hayman, executive director of the Montana VA Health Care System, said in a prepared statement. “We serve 47,000 veterans in the fourth largest state in the country. We are able to store the vaccines at three MTVAHCS locations at Fort Harrison, Billings and Miles City. All vaccines must then be transported from these sites; being able to use fix-winged aircraft helps us get these vaccines out quickly and avoid any complications from winter road conditions.”

The distribution event is the second to unfold since the program rolled out. The first clinic occurred in Havre on Jan. 21, where 240 veterans received doses that were also flown in from Fort Harrison.

As the lead site of the rural distribution program, the system will be documenting the clinics and is expected to share best practices that will guide other VA sites across the United States in their distribution efforts to rural veterans.

“Veterans in Kalispell have been calling to find out when they will have their first opportunity to get the vaccine and we are excited to be able to bring it to area veterans who are 75 years of age or older or with certain medical conditions,” Hayman said. “This will be our largest veteran vaccine clinic yet and our team will celebrate with each veteran who is able to move one step closer to being safe from the pandemic’s impacts.”

While this is the second distribution event that has targeted qualifying rural veterans, other vaccination efforts by the Montana VA Health Care System have been underway for weeks.

More than 1,600 Montana veterans and nearly 1,400 of the system employees already have been inoculated. Clinics have been held at Fort Harrison, Miles City, Missoula, Billings and Bozeman, and now Havre and Kalispell.

Vaccinating all of Montana’s veterans will be a monumental task. The Kalispell VA Clinic alone serves just over 4,800 local veterans from communities including Kalispell, Cut Bank, Plains, Seeley Lake, Eureka, northern Idaho, and Canada.

More vaccination events will be held around the state as more doses become available. These events will continue “until all enrolled veterans who want to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are immunized,” the news release states.

Enrolled veterans should not call the health-care system or their local clinic to make a vaccine appointment. As veterans become eligible based on risk stratifications and vaccine allocations, staff will call each veteran to schedule an appointment.

High-risk individuals will be called first, the news release states. That includes persons 75 years or older and any veteran who has a medical condition that may put them at increased risk based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Veterans Health Administration.

The Moderna vaccine is reported to be 94% effective in preventing the disease after both doses have been administered, 28 days apart. All veterans who receive a shot will be closely monitored for any adverse side-effects, which in most instances are mild. After receiving both doses, individuals should continue wearing a face mask, practice social distancing and washing their hands often.

If a Montana veteran is not enrolled in the Veteran Healthcare Administration, they are encouraged to call 877-468-8387 and select Option 4 to find out if they are eligible. Unenrolled veterans are encouraged to call as soon as possible.

Veterans can follow COVID-19 vaccination updates via email at public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USVA/subscriber/new/, Facebook (@VAMontana), or Twitter (@VAMontanaHCS). If a Veteran has questions about receiving the vaccine, they can send their health-care team a secure message through MyHealtheVet or call -877-468-8387 (Option 2) to set up a time to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com