Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday ordered over 1,110 active-duty troops to assist at five state vaccination sites in response to a Federal Emergency Management Agency request for military assistance, with the size of the deployment expected to grow.
“The military’s critical role in supporting sites will help vaccinate thousands of people per day,” said Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser for the coronavirus response.
The effort is aimed at helping President Biden’s goal of vaccinating 100 million people during his first 100 days in office.
The deployment represents a new type of support from the Department of Defense. Last year, the military contributed to the domestic coronavirus response, with National Guard personnel helping at testing sites, medics assisting aboard hospital ships and at field and local hospitals, and the Army Corps of Engineers converting buildings nationwide into makeshift COVID-19 treatment centers.
Slavitt said the first troops will arrive in California around Feb. 15, with additional missions to follow.
The troops will help administer vaccines and conduct support functions, and they will be overseen by Colorado Springs-based U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for the Pentagon’s role in homeland defense.
Military personnel have been asked daily for an update on the week-old FEMA request for 10,000 troops.
In releasing initial details, DOD said the mission has no end date and will only grow as a total of 100 FEMA-operated vaccination sites come to be.
The first 1,110 personnel will be broken into five teams of 222, sourced from across the services. The Army will provide two teams, and the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps will each provide a team.
Each team will consist of 15 command-and-control personnel, 80 personnel to administer vaccines, 15 registered nurses, 57 clinical staff members, and 55 people for general support.
DOD officials previously said they expect the National Guard will also play a role in providing the needed manpower to meet the FEMA request.
The Pentagon expects to provide more information on vaccination site locations at an afternoon briefing.
