{"id":69324,"date":"2023-09-18T19:50:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T19:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/09\/18\/va-urging-veterans-staff-to-get-latest-covid-19-vaccine-booster\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:26:33","slug":"va-urging-veterans-staff-to-get-latest-covid-19-vaccine-booster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2023\/09\/18\/va-urging-veterans-staff-to-get-latest-covid-19-vaccine-booster\/","title":{"rendered":"VA urging veterans, staff to get latest COVID-19 vaccine booster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veterans Affairs officials<\/a> are again urging medical center patients and staff to get the latest COVID-19 <\/a>vaccine booster, this time in response to the latest wave of the illness spreading across America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department will be among the first federal agencies to get doses of the vaccine, according to VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal<\/a>. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> earlier this month approved the new vaccine booster and are recommending it for anyone six months or older who has not gotten a coronavirus vaccine in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe vaccine that has proven over and over again to be safe and effective,\u201d Elnahal told reporters at a press event Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt protects against severe outcomes and death significantly. As we are seeing hospitalizations go up across the country connected to the virus, we\u2019re concerned that if folks don\u2019t get this latest booster, they will not benefit from the extra protection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Active COVID-19 cases among VA patients<\/a> are up more than 200% in the last two months, with roughly 5,500 cases in the system as of Monday morning. That number is still well below the 70,000-plus cases that VA medical centers in early 2022 amid the national pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t