Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby briefs the media, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Jan. 28, 2021. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has asked the Pentagon to assist with President Biden’s goal to vaccinate 100 million people against the coronavirus in his first 100 days in office, John F. Kirby the Department of Defense’s (DOD) top spokesman confirmed Thursday at a press briefing.
“We’re going to contribute in as aggressive a manner as we can,” Kirby said, noting the secretary’s No. 1 DOD priority is battling and defeating the virus. He added that such a request by FEMA would likely be a joint effort involving all the branches of service and, perhaps, National Guard and reserve forces.
Kirby said it will take days — not weeks — to get the FEMA request sourced, adding that the Secretary of Defense has clearly stated DOD will lean in and lean forward to get a handle on COVID-19 and the vaccine availability. FEMA is eyeing setting up some 100 vaccine sites nationwide as early as next month. Service members could be deployed to sites in support of administering the vaccine shots.
The Defense Department is working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the State Department to provide support in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, according to the DOD.
Max Rose, Senior COVID-19 Advisor To The Secretary of Defense , Gen. Lloyd Austin, said the new defense secretary has sent a clear message that the pandemic is his number one priority. “You know, Secretary Austin sent the most clear message he could have in just the first hour that he stepped into this role after he was confirmed and he walked into the Pentagon,” Rose said at Thursday’s press briefing. “First meeting that he called with the highest levels of leadership not just in this building, but around the world on one topic, and that is COVID, firmly establishing right in that meeting that this is his number one priority; that the department is absolutely committed, above all else, to protecting the DOD workforce and their families, safeguarding the department’s mission capabilities and readiness, and supporting the president’s priority and effort to do everything we can to defeat this pandemic.”
138,763 Cases of COVID Among Military Personnel
U.S. Army Health Clinic Stuttgart conducted its first inoculations of healthcare workers and first responders with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany, Dec. 31, 2020. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Adam Cronkhite (seated left), Director of Emergency Services, and U.S. Army Lt. Col. Maria Bruton (seated right), commander of USAHC Stuttgart, simultaneously were the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the Stuttgart military community. (U.S. Army photo by Becca Castellano)
Staff Sgt. Maria Monzi, 4th Medical Readiness Squadron medical technician (left), places a red cross around the arm of Staff Sgt. Candice Stafford, 4th Healthcare Operation Squadron medical technician, at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, Jan. 15, 2021. Monzi and Stafford participated in immunizing Airmen and civilians with the COVID-19 vaccine. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kimberly Barrera)
The military departments and combatant commands have reported a total of 138,763 cases of COVID among military personnel as of Jan. 28, 2021, according to Joint Staff Surgeon Air Force Brigadier General Paul Friedrichs, adding that the number is up from 137,000 on Wednesday. “To date, the department has received 769,000 doses of the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines, and these are the data that are posted as of 5 o’clock this morning on the CDC website. Of that 769,000, we’ve distributed them out to 306 sites around the world. And I want to emphasize that. Unlike a state or a local authority that is responsible for an area here in the United States, as you know, we have operations all over the world, and thanks to the Defense Logistics Agency and the United States Transportation Command and many other partners, we’ve been able now to get vaccine out to many of our bases where we have personnel who are in those first tranches that we’re trying to vaccinate,” Friedrichs said.
