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The federal government will be sending hundreds of active-duty soldiers to California in the coming weeks to help bolster vaccine administration in the state.
Andy Slavitt, the White House’s senior advisor on coronavirus response, said on Friday the Defense Department had approved the request for the first contingent in what could ultimately be a deployment of thousands of military personnel to staff new mass coronavirus vaccination sites across the country.
“The military’s critical role in supporting the sites will help immunize thousands of people per day and ensure that every American who wants a vaccine gets one,” Slavitt said at a news briefing.
The Biden administration announced this week that it plans to establish 100 mass vaccination sites across the country over the next few months, with the first two scheduled to be in service by mid-February at the Oakland Coliseum and the California State University of Los Angeles.
State officials expect the Colosseum site to eventually deliver up to 6,000 doses per day, with a focus on expanding access to vaccines to underserved communities.
At least one of these California sites, which will be overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is expected to receive a team of 222 troops from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Corps of marines in the next 10 days, according to the Department of Defense. The team will include, among others, 80 vaccinators, 57 clinical staff and 15 registered nurses.
FEMA’s total request is 10,000 troops to support the planned 100 mass vaccination sites. The Department of Defense on Thursday approved the first batch of 1,100 people to help staff five sites, including the previously announced team in California.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense, said in a briefing Friday that he was unsure whether the Oakland or Los Angeles vaccination site would receive military assistance, or where the other four teams would go.
FEMA did not respond to questions for clarification.
“We will partner with the DOD to obtain additional resources at federally supported sites across the country,” a spokesperson said in an email.
The effort is part of a broader strategy by the Biden administration to leverage its military powers to bolster the country’s response to the coronavirus.
Tim Manning, the national supply chain coordinator for the coronavirus response, said on Friday that the federal government is also invoking the Defense Production Act to increase the manufacture of vaccines, home coronavirus testing and gloves protection.
A limited supply of doses has been one of the biggest constraints to the rollout of vaccination in California and across the country. Manning said the Biden administration would give Pfizer a priority rating to secure critical equipment, including filling pumps, removing a bottleneck in vaccine manufacturing.
“It is actions like these that will allow Pfizer to increase production and meet its distribution goals of hundreds of millions of doses over the next several months,” Manning said.
Alexei Koseff is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @akoseff
Clarification: An earlier version of this article indicated that the federal government would send troops to mass personnel vaccination sites in Oakland and Los Angeles. It is not known which California site will receive support.
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