Within 48 hours of emergency authorization, the Department of Defense aims to have shots in the arms of some 44,000 mostly healthcare military personnel across 16 global locations, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Among the first to receive shots will not be those safeguarding U.S. national security.
“They most definitely come in,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Thomas McCaffery told the Washington Examiner, before clarifying that only about five senior officials would be part of the first tranche.
“The 44,000 that we expect to get initially, that we will be testing through those 16 sites, those won’t even cover the very first section of Phase 1A, which is going to be healthcare workers,” he said.
McCaffery said acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, Deputy Secretary David Norquist, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, Vice Chairman John Hyten, and Senior Enlisted Adviser to the Joint Chiefs CZ Colon would likely be the only five people to be offered the first vaccine as soon as emergency authorization is granted.
Members of the military safeguarding critical national security capabilities will not be part of the first tranche of vaccine doses administered.
McCaffery said service members involved in the strategic nuclear forces, homeland defense forces, and cybersecurity are part of the Phase 1B group. The initial 44,000 doses expected as early as next week will only cover about 9% of those in Phase 1A.
“The DOD prioritization plan is consistent with CDC guidance and prioritizes healthcare providers and support personnel, residents, and staff of DOD long-term care facilities, other essential workers, and high-risk beneficiaries to receive the vaccine before other members of the healthy DOD population,” McCaffery added.
Extreme quarantine and isolation protocols that have been in place to protect those on the front line of homeland defense since the pandemic hit the armed forces will continue.
Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, director of the Defense Health Agency, said until the vaccine is fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration, service members will only be asked to take it voluntarily.
“The department is strongly encouraging everyone to take it,” he said, noting even those who previously contracted COVID-19 will be offered the vaccine.
The 16 sites chosen across the continental United States, Hawaii, and U.S. bases in Germany, Korea, and Japan were chosen based on their capacity for cold storage and the number of high-priority personnel on-site, among other factors.
The DOD is receiving the same proportional amount of vaccines as other jurisdictions. Sites will only receive between 975 and about 6,000 doses at first.
The department plans to continue the pilot distribution model until 60% of DOD’s roughly 11 million personnel have received the vaccine. Then, as manufacturing rates ramp up, the Pentagon will switch over to the vaccine distribution model that it uses for its annual influenza vaccines for the force.
