The Pentagon will deploy troops to help vaccinate Americans against COVID-19, the White House said Friday.
Coronavirus senior adviser Andy Slavitt has announced that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has approved a request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It means that about 1,000 active duty soldiers will be deployed to assist state vaccination centers.
President Joe Biden has called for 100 mass vaccination centers across the country to be set up within a month. Two are opening in California, and Slavitt said military personnel will arrive at those centers in just over a week.
The Pentagon scheduled a newsletter later Friday to provide more information about the military role.
Slavitt said military support will play a critical role in supporting vaccination sites, allowing for thousands of injections per day.
Currently, approximately 6.9 million Americans have received the full two-dose regimen necessary to obtain maximum protection against the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. That translates to about 2% of the US population.
To achieve widespread or “herd” immunity, about 70% to 85% of Americans must be vaccinated. The US is in a race with the virus, which is also spawning mutations that may prove resistant to vaccines.
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