The Federal Emergency Management Agency is asking the Pentagon to help with President Joe Biden’s plan to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations across the country over the next three months, multiple reports said Thursday.
The Department of Defense is looking into it, CNN reported.
“The department is evaluating the request and what kind of support it can provide. Given the importance of the request, it will be looked at urgently but carefully to determine what resources from the DOD can be safely made available to support the effort,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
“As secretary [of Defense Lloyd] Austin has said, DOD is committed to doing as much as possible to help the entire government against COVID-19, ”he added.
While the statement did not mention the number of troops that could be involved, an unnamed official told Reuters it could number in the thousands.
According to The Hill, possible solutions could include sending up to 10,000 active duty and National Guard troops to megahubs for vaccination.
Biden said on Monday that he has set a goal to vaccinate 1.5 million people a day in the coming weeks.
“It’s going to be a logistical challenge that will surpass anything we’ve ever tried in this country, but I think we can,” Biden said at a press conference.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that the goal was ambitious, and White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said the next day that it will be “months” before anyone who wants a vaccine can get one. get, The Hill. reported.
In a comment Tuesday to CNN, Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain noted a number of hurdles the administration faces in achieving its vaccination goals.
“It’s not just vaccines,” he said, the news service reported. “In some states … the problem is a lack of people to give injections. We’re working to increase that capacity. In some states, there aren’t enough places. We’ve announced the creation of federal vaccination centers. we need more vaccinations, we need more vaccinations, we need more places to give the vaccinations. We’re working on all these three things. “
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