The Defense Department wound down the last of 48 federal vaccination sites manned by troops across the country with the closing of a New Jersey facility Sunday after service members vaccinated nearly 5 million people nationally.
The effort by 5,100 active-duty service members that began in February spanned medical personnel from across the services and acted in addition to the National Guard’s support of state and local vaccination sites across the nation. Guard members were called by their governors to help administer 12 million vaccines.
“The last federally supported community vaccination center, which was located in New Jersey, conducted its final day of operations yesterday,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told defense reporters Monday.
The federal effort began in February, when President Joe Biden asked the DOD to prepare up to 10,000 soldiers to fan across the country and help vaccinate 100 million people. As the national vaccination rate surpassed 60% and vaccination hesitancy remains, the Federal Emergency Management Agency effort was deemed no longer necessary.
MILITARY: MORE THAN HALF OF FORCE UNVACCINATED AMID HUNDREDS OF COVID-19 CASES EACH DAY
“As we often see in times of crisis, our troops are marshaled to care for their fellow Americans,” Kirby said of the combined effort of active-duty and National Guard members. “That’s over 17 million vaccines by service members.”
Throughout 2020, 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.
The federal effort, which originally sought 100 testing sites across the nation and settled for less than half that number, was managed by U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs.
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The New Jersey site that began operating on March 26 with the capability to administer 6,000 vaccinations per day was supported by 220 service members from the Air Force at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility in Newark.
While the federal, DOD-led vaccination effort has concluded, Kirby said the National Guard’s state effort will continue at the discretion of governors.
