US Military Starts Vaccinating Troops, Behind Russia and China – By Patrick Tucker (Defense One) / Dec 9 2020
DOD has picked 16 sites for a “controlled pilot” COVID vaccination program.
The Pentagon expects to distribute 44,000 doses of covid-19 vaccine among military personnel and retirees against COVID as early as next week at 16 sites in what officials called a “controlled pilot.”
Initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine will go to what officials described as a “limited, limited” number of senior military officials and officers, including the Defense Secretary and Deputy Defense Secretary, the Chairmen and Vice Chairman of the Joints Chief and some others. But the bulk of the initial doses will go to the military healthcare workforce.
The doses will cover only a small fraction of what’s needed to vaccinate everyone in DoD care, including the one million active duty personnel and more than nine million benefits-receiving veterans.
A slide distributed by the Defense Department on Wednesday showing the initial phases for vaccine distribution among the DoD.
Meanwhile, Russia and China have begun to vaccinate their entire active duty force with their own versions of a vaccine — ones that did not go through rigorous FDA evaluations.
