Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has so far authorized a total of 25 teams of active troops for support COVID-19 vaccination efforts. The move comes in response to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday that Austin had authorized 20 additional teams, bringing the total number of support staff on active duty or prepare to support FEMA in the vaccination effort more than 4,700
The first five teams were announced last week and the first installment of 222 staff is on site at what FEMA calls a “mega site” at California State University in Los Angeles to begin next week.
Ten of the new teams will employ 222 staff to support mega sites, while the other 10 will deploy 139 staff to support smaller sites.
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Kirby had no additional details about the vaccination sites the troops will travel to or where the troops will come from.
“What we’re trying to do is be ready when needed,” Kirby said. He added that the department can begin the announcement to ensure that staff are properly trained, resourced and that their commandos have time to prepare for their departure.
FEMA has requested support for 100 vaccination sites, with the deployment likely to exceed the estimated 10,000 active duty troops initially requested by the federal agency.
Meanwhile, FEMA is seeking bids to contract trained vaccinators to help roll out the COVID-19 vaccine. The agency plans to hire thousands of medical personnel by mid-March, according to a statement released Friday. Contracted personnel will provide vaccine support to a range of medical facilities, including community hospitals, state-run centers, and federally run vaccination sites. A FEMA official confirmed to CBS News that a draft statement indicated that federal contracts would be worth about $ 3 billion in total.
FEMA has provided more than $ 3.22 billion to states, tribes, territories and Washington, DC for expenses related to vaccination against COVID-19. The government agency has already deployed nearly 2,000 staff across the country to support existing vaccination centers.
According to FEMA, the National Guard Bureau has sent 1,201 vaccinators to 385 vaccination centers in 43 states and territories, while 351 interagency vaccinators have been deployed in Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas.
But cities and states are begging the federal government to send more vaccines. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on Wednesday that five of the city’s COVID-19 vaccine sites – including Dodger Stadium – will close Friday and Saturday due to a lack of supplies.
“We are vaccinating people faster than new bottles are arriving here in Los Angeles,” he said at a news conference Wednesday night. ‘And I’m very worried right now. As a mayor, I’m concerned that our vaccine supply is uneven, unpredictable and, too often, unfair. ‘
Vaccine demand is on track to outpace supply “in the near future,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced Thursday.
At a press conference on Thursday, Hogan said Maryland is not getting enough supplies to vaccinate the more than 2 million Marylanders – including seniors – who are eligible for doses.
“They can’t schedule an appointment for a vaccine that doesn’t exist yet,” Hogan said. “The basic problem is pretty simple: we need more damn vaccines.”
In Alabama, which currently ranks last in the US in terms of vaccinations per capita, all vaccination sites have been booked through April.
President Biden spoke much-needed boost to the vaccine supply during a visit to the National Institutes of Health laboratories on Thursday.
“It has really turned out to be a huge logistical problem for us,” said Mr. Biden, pointing to the Trump administration. “My predecessor – I’ll be very blunt about it – didn’t do his job to prepare for the enormous challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions.”