{"id":62962,"date":"2021-02-12T19:29:33","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T19:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/12\/the-ike-carrier-strike-group-to-get-covid-vaccine-this-weekend-before-its-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:49:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:49:05","slug":"the-ike-carrier-strike-group-to-get-covid-vaccine-this-weekend-before-its-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/02\/12\/the-ike-carrier-strike-group-to-get-covid-vaccine-this-weekend-before-its-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ike Carrier Strike Group to get COVID vaccine this weekend, before its deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s been a long year for everyone, but doubly so for the men and women of the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, who are days away from commencing their second deployment in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before they head out, however, the Navy plans to vaccinate the sailors of the Ike and its strike group on the pier this weekend in Norfolk, offering a bit of good news to concerned crew members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eighty percent of sailors in the strike group, about 5,000 in all, have volunteered to get the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, with plans afoot to give them their second dose at a port during the deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Moderna vaccine is being used because it does not require the ultra-cold temperature storage of the Pfizer version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/Leadership\/Biographies\/BioDisplay\/Article\/2236151\/vice-admiral-andrew-lewis\/\" target=_blank>Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis<\/a>, U.S. 2nd Fleet commander, noted in a statement Friday that the group\u2019s sailors \u201chave had a lot asked of them in the COVID environment in this \u2018double pump\u2019 deployment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Getting the jab will hopefully ease the strain a bit, leaders said in a call with reporters Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/01\/11\/readying-for-the-worst-pandemics-long-deployments-take-a-hard-toll-on-crews-families-and-ships\/\" 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\/tr-dub-pump-3.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\">Readying for the worst: Pandemic\u2019s long deployments take a hard toll on crews, families and ships<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The pace of operations and Big Navy\u2019s COVID suppression measures are placing added stress and strain upon sailors and raising questions in some circles about retention and the material readiness of Navy ships, compounding issues that existed well before the pandemic.<\/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\">\u201cThis is the first time in a good while that we can talk about COVID and good news in the same sentence,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to send them over the horizon there in a few days having received their first vaccination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re going to be well on their way to full immunization in about six weeks\u2019 time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For any sailors who remain wary of getting the vaccine, Lewis urged them to follow the science and trust the medical experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn a personal level, I could not wait to get the vaccination because I read everything that\u2019s coming out from the experts, and the experts have proven themselves to know their business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Getting the word to sailors that the vaccines are safe and effective is an all-hands effort, Lewis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEverybody who has a voice with a credible source is trying to get out the word to dispel the myths,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the second shot can sometimes provoke temporary discomfort in participants, the strike group will stagger that second jab to ensure that the ships and jets can still do their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Getting vaccinated is not just about a sailor\u2019s safety, but helping to protect their shipmates as well, leaders noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/08\/18\/please-remember-the-world-is-different-a-sailor-recounts-the-ikes-200-plus-days-at-sea-and-its-surreal-return\/\" 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\/ike-return-2.png.png?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\">\u2018Please remember the world is different:\u2019 A sailor recounts the Ike\u2019s 200-plus days at sea and its surreal return<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The carrier and its strike group left Virginia in mid-January and returned this month to a very different America.<\/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\">Both the Moderna and Pfizer versions of the coronavirus vaccine are voluntary for sailors at the moment, since they have only been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under an emergency-use authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe cannot make it mandatory yet, but I can tell you we\u2019re probably going to make it mandatory as soon as we can, just like the flu vaccine,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Lewis and other leaders emphasized Friday that hand washing, distancing and other measures would remain in effect aboard the Ike even after vaccination, he noted that \u201cwe are driving toward what we would call a normal deployment,\u201d that will seek to involve \u201cquality of life\u201d port visits along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navy deployments since March have tended to be longer than usual as commanders have sought to maximize the advantages of COVID-free crews, and they have also largely eschewed things like port calls to keep those crews virus free, making hard times that much harder for sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe forward commanders are very committed to doing this,\u201d Lewis said, referring to future port visits. \u201cThere\u2019s a dim light at the end of the tunnel, but it\u2019s become brighter all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a dim light at the end of the tunnel,&#8221; Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis said Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10634,"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":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[82,29,116,117,15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3487],"class_list":["post-62962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HYB27W3TBBEQ3A3CESCDC5L2SE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/02\/12\/the-ike-carrier-strike-group-to-get-covid-vaccine-this-weekend-before-its-deployment\/","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>The Ike Carrier Strike Group to get COVID vaccine this weekend, before its deployment - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cThere\u2019s a dim light at the end of the tunnel,&quot; Vice Adm. 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