{"id":51766,"date":"2021-02-18T16:52:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/18\/concerns-raised-about-covid-19-vaccines-reaching-deployed-troops\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:13:15","slug":"concerns-raised-about-covid-19-vaccines-reaching-deployed-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/02\/18\/concerns-raised-about-covid-19-vaccines-reaching-deployed-troops\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerns raised about COVID-19 vaccines reaching deployed troops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Defense Department is two months into vaccinating its personnel against COVID-19<\/a>, but some troops downrange<\/a> are wondering when their \u201cshots-in-arms\u201d<\/a> will arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon can\u2019t say precisely how many doses have gone to deployed units, a defense official who was not authorized to speak on the record told Military Times on Wednesday, only that out of more than a million doses shipped worldwide, more than 200,000 have gone outside of the contiguous United States. That includes to personnel stationed overseas in Germany, Italy, Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we have a major outbreak here, it has huge operational impacts. and yet, our providers haven\u2019t even been vaccinated yet,\u201d a soldier whose unit is spread across Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria, who asked not to be identified, told Military Times. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fewer than 10 troops in his brigade have been vaccinated, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy guess is they just don\u2019t really have a plan,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to use the Germany\/Korea numbers as window dressing, but we\u2019re frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technically, deployed troops are in the same prioritization tier<\/a> as deploying troops, Phase 1b. Medical staff, deployed or not, are Phase 1a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s safe to say the stuff that is going out, is going to the tier 1a and tier 1b,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottleneck may be happening on the receiving end, the official suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a logistical challenge. We do this anyway, right? If it\u2019s beans, bullets, now it\u2019s vaccines,\u201d the official said. \u201cWe\u2019re good at getting it there. Like here in the States, it in large part falls on the command structure there, and the medical command structure there, and the medical capabilities to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In theory, if troops are not vaccinated before they leave on deployment, there are mitigation processes in place. They\u2019re put on a restriction-of-movement for two weeks before deploying, and sometimes for two weeks after arriving, in addition to testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, the soldier said, he was tested after a 14-day quarantine, but then not made to continue quarantine while he waited for his results \u2015 directly counter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be honest, military folks think they\u2019re invincible,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd lots of our population thinks COVID is bullshit. So you get widespread mask wearing, but also widespread not mask wearing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t