Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to promote vaccination efforts with active service of U.S. troops, White House Covid-19 senior adviser Andy Slavitt said Friday.
According to the Pentagon, the 1,110 service members must work together in five teams to travel to five FEMA Covid-19 vaccination sites. CNN reported earlier Friday that the orders are expected to appeal to troops to be ready within 96 hours, according to two defense officials.
Slavitt confirmed Friday that a portion of the group will begin arriving in California within the next ten days to begin in the area around Feb. 15, with additional vaccinations coming soon.
He called the military’s “critical role” in the vaccination sites, which he said “would ensure that every American who wants a vaccine will receive one.”
Slavitt said the Pentagon will provide more information during an information session on Friday afternoon.
This effort is in response to a FEMA request to the Pentagon to provide military assistance to provide vaccinations to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of increasing the number of Americans who receive shots during his first 100 days in office.
As of Friday morning, about 35.2 million doses of vaccines have been administered in the United States, with about 6.9 million people receiving their second dose, according to data reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is now expected that the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs will work out exactly what troops will go and possibly include active service personnel and national guard.
There is already a separate national guard deployment across the country. “More than 20,000 national guards have been deployed providing COVID support, including at more than 216 vaccine sites in 36 states and territories,” said Max Rose, senior adviser to the Secretary of Defense.
The Pentagon has also kept hundreds of people informed to be prepared to deploy to help overwhelming healthcare facilities and hospitals across the country.