{"id":64407,"date":"2021-03-18T15:46:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T15:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/18\/coronavirus-rates-at-va-medical-centers-fall-to-five-month-low\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:19:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:19:57","slug":"coronavirus-rates-at-va-medical-centers-fall-to-five-month-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2021\/03\/18\/coronavirus-rates-at-va-medical-centers-fall-to-five-month-low\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus rates at VA medical centers fall to five-month low"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Active cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/03\/04\/by-the-numbers-vas-coronavirus-response-one-year-later\/\" target=_blank>coronavirus<\/a> among<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/03\/10\/all-vets-could-be-eligible-for-covid-vaccines-at-va-soon-but-supply-problems-remain-the-biggest-challenge\/\" target=_blank> Veterans Affairs patients<\/a> hit a five-month low this week, continuing a steady decline since the pandemic\u2019s peak earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of Wednesday evening, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accesstocare.va.gov\/Healthcare\/COVID19NationalSummary\" target=_blank>department officials reported<\/a> 4,227 active cases spread over 138 medical centers across America. That\u2019s down more than 78 percent in the last two months, and the lowest total since early October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of the VA medical centers reported fewer than 100 active cases among all patients on Wednesday, also the first time that has happened since last fall. More than 237,000 VA patients have been diagnosed with the virus since the pandemic began in March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/03\/10\/all-vets-could-be-eligible-for-covid-vaccines-at-va-soon-but-supply-problems-remain-the-biggest-challenge\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21067682236504.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">All vets could be eligible for COVID vaccines at VA soon, but supply problems remain the biggest challenge<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A new bill would allow the department to vaccinate more veterans, but it wouldn&#039;t get more doses to VA.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decrease comes as case totals across America have also dropped since the height of the pandemic in December and January. More than 29 million Americans \u2014 about one in every 11 citizens \u2014 have tested positive for the virus in the last 14 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials have repeatedly noted that, unlike military members who live and work on somewhat isolated installations, veterans live in the civilian community. So their case numbers will mirror national trends more closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During a health care summit hosted by GovernmentCIO Media &amp; Research on Thursday, acting VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Richard Stone called the recent improvements \u201cdramatic\u201d and encouraging<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA few months ago, we had over 3,000 patients hospitalized for COVID issues,\u201d he said. \u201cThat number is right around 1,000 today, so it\u2019s about a two-thirds reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lower numbers of coronavirus cases also come as VA and national health care officials have dramatically increased vaccination efforts. President Joe Biden announced last week his goal of having all American adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1, with an eye towards having most adults vaccinated by mid-summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials have administered more than 3.3 million vaccine doses since mid-December. This week, department officials announced more than 1 million veterans have received both doses of the two-shot regimen, along with nearly 250,000 VA employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere was a lot of talk about Americans\u2019 hesitancy to take the vaccine. But veterans have taken the vaccine at extraordinary rates and continue to line up,\u201d Stone said. \u201cWe\u2019re very pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Thursday\u2019s summit, Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., praised that work so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe good news is the VA is getting vaccines into people\u2019s arms, I think, better than anybody in the nation,\u201d he said. \u201cThe bad news is, we need more vaccines. It\u2019s important that we get more in VA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/03\/04\/by-the-numbers-vas-coronavirus-response-one-year-later\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6155508.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">By the numbers: VA\u2019s coronavirus response one year later<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">On March 4, 2020, VA officials announced their first recorded case of coronavirus in a patient from California. Since then, hundreds of thousands more have contracted the illness.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers including Tester have introduced measures to dramatically expand veterans eligibility to get the vaccine at VA medical centers. Currently, only veterans eligible for VA health care and certain caregivers can receive the shots, a group that is expected to total about 7 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Department leaders support legislative changes to expand that to more than 20 million veterans and caregivers, but have warned that availability of vaccines from federal partners will still be the determining factor of how quickly they can distribute them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 534,000 Americans have died from coronavirus complications in the last year, including almost 11,000 VA patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the first VA patient death from the illness, a 70-year-old living in Oregon. Since then, the department has averaged losing nearly 30 patients a day from coronavirus-related conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Active cases of the virus among patients are down almost 80 percent in the last two 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