{"id":58147,"date":"2021-04-30T14:49:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T14:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/30\/tens-of-thousands-of-us-vets-living-overseas-left-to-find-covid-vaccine-doses-on-their-own\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:17:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:17:46","slug":"tens-of-thousands-of-us-vets-living-overseas-left-to-find-covid-vaccine-doses-on-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2021\/04\/30\/tens-of-thousands-of-us-vets-living-overseas-left-to-find-covid-vaccine-doses-on-their-own\/","title":{"rendered":"Tens of thousands of US vets living overseas left to find COVID vaccine doses on their own"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Congress passed legislation last month to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/02\/24\/measure-would-allow-va-to-give-coronavirus-vaccine-to-any-veteran-and-most-caregivers\/\" target=_blank>expand COVID vaccine distribution<\/a> to all veterans and caregivers, Marine Corps veteran Wayne Beverly<b> <\/b>hoped<u> <\/u>he\u2019d be able to get an appointment through his local U.S. embassy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, the expatriate living in Thailand has been frustrated to find out that enrollees in the Department of Veterans Affairs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/12\/09\/vets-living-abroad-left-to-navigate-pandemic-problems-without-va-help\/\" target=_blank>Foreign Medical Program<\/a> are still on their own to find doses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are many veterans here,\u201d said Beverly, 75, who has a 100-percent disability rating due to injuries sustained during the Vietnam war. \u201cI am a member of the local VFW, and there are chapters all over Thailand. But I have heard nothing from anyone about being able to receive a vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt feels like we\u2019re getting screwed over by our government and the VA once again.\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\/veterans\/2021\/02\/24\/measure-would-allow-va-to-give-coronavirus-vaccine-to-any-veteran-and-most-caregivers\/\" 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=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6492125.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\">Measure would allow VA to give coronavirus vaccine to any veteran and most caregivers<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Currently, only veterans enrolled in VA medical care can get the vaccine through the department.<\/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\">Under provisions in the SAVE LIVES Act signed into law March 24, VA officials were given authority to administer vaccines to all American veterans, their spouses and caregivers in an effort to speed up distribution of the doses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation included \u201coverseas veterans who rely on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/communitycare\/programs\/veterans\/fmp\/index.asp\" target=_blank>Foreign Medical Program<\/a>.\u201d About 55,500 veterans are currently registered in that overseas medical assistance program, though VA officials have noted fewer than 5,000 were active users of the program in fiscal 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the program is typically a reimbursement program where veterans can receive payments for health appointments or medication after they arrange that care on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, VA officials said that they will \u201cpay or reimburse claims for vaccines that veterans receive from their local providers,\u201d but not provide any direct doses to overseas veterans through American embassies or other U.S. facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The one exception is in the Philippines, where VA staff is providing vaccines directly at the Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Manila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Expanding that to more foreign country locations would present significant logistical challenges for the department, which has coordinated closely with federal partners to distribute tens of thousands of vaccine doses each week at established stateside sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the lack of a direct path to a vaccine presents significant challenges for overseas veterans, as many foreign governments have struggled to obtain and distribute the doses. Beverly said getting a dose in Thailand right now \u201cis next to impossible\u201d for most residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He had hoped the U.S. government would find a way to make some supply available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut our embassy has said \u2018you are on your own, good luck,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWhat are we, third-class citizens? I don\u2019t remember giving up my citizenship when I moved 11 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, a State Department official said that the agency \u201cdoes not provide direct medical care to private U.S. citizens abroad. We are committed to providing all possible consular assistance to U.S. citizens in need overseas, including by providing information on local medical resources when appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On April 26, amid increasing criticism and desperation from the international community, White House officials announced they will share up to 60 million doses of the excess vaccine doses with other countries in coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, Defense Department officials announced they would prioritize overseas deployed personnel and their families for vaccine doses \u201cbecause of limited availability to receive vaccinations from local health care providers.\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\/19\/all-veterans-their-spouses-and-caregivers-eligible-to-get-covid-vaccine-through-va-under-newly-passed-bill\/\" 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\/AP21054771109087.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 veterans, their spouses and caregivers eligible to get COVID vaccine through VA under newly-passed bill<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The new bill would make more than 20 million individuals eligible to get doses through 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\">But overseas veterans have not received the same priority. Restrictions on vaccine imports and exports remain in place across the globe, and getting shots into individuals\u2019 arms is still largely controlled by foreign governments, even for U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 150 million individuals worldwide have contracted COVID-19 over the last 18 months, and more than 3 million have died from complications related to the virus. The virus has been particularly deadly among elderly individuals, a group that includes many of the overseas U.S. veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beverly said he is still searching for a local hospital for a vaccine appointment, but he isn\u2019t optimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey put (outsiders) at the back of the line for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen Americans are left out, the only hope us veterans have is the VA.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VA officials will reimburse veterans for vaccine costs through the department&#8217;s Foreign Medical Program, but not help them find vaccine appointments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":38195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[66,101,23,93,12,25,67,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3226],"class_list":["post-58147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SF5MU4PAAREAZHCHJTD3DZM6IA","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2021\/04\/30\/tens-of-thousands-of-us-vets-living-overseas-left-to-find-covid-vaccine-doses-on-their-own\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tens of thousands of US vets living overseas left to find COVID vaccine doses on their own - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA officials will reimburse veterans for vaccine costs through the department&#039;s Foreign Medical Program, but not help them find vaccine appointments.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/04\/30\/tens-of-thousands-of-us-vets-living-overseas-left-to-find-covid-vaccine-doses-on-their-own\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tens of thousands of US 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