National Guard is mobilized

In an effort to speed up the deployment of vaccines, states are taking over their national guards.

More than 20,000 members of the National Guard are engaged in the vaccination mission, with at least nine states using the guard to place needles in the residents’ arms. At least 22 other states have activated units to assist with logistical and administrative tasks related to vaccinations.

As the crisis escalates, more states are likely to turn to the military.

However, those who hope that the wait can help with a big acceleration may be disappointed.

The National Guard operates independently in all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia. In most cases, it is activated by the governor. Overall, the country’s 54 wage units have 450,000 service members at their disposal. During the early days of Covid in the US, nearly 50,000 were deployed to help with the test, but most of the deployments were terminated.

Despite the capabilities and expertise in various fields, the guard is usually not assigned a leading role. Instead, guard units are mostly willing to supplement existing resources in state and county divisions.

“The power of the military is logistics,” said military analyst Emma Moore, who studied extensively with the National Guard for the Center for New American Security. “The guard will be able to replenish at state and local health institutions and remove from the burden of the civilian medical infrastructure.”

In Maryland, Governor Larry Hogan acknowledged the frustration with the slow start of the vaccination effort.

“While none of us have rejoiced over the first few weeks over the pace of this rollout, I can assure you that it is improving every day,” he said Tuesday.

To help, the Maryland National Guard was activated last week. Despite the alarming rise of the pandemic and the desperate need for shots, only 150 guards received calls. In most cases, people who are trained and ready for this kind of work also have civilian positions in the medical sector, and therefore civil servants are careful to take them out of their civilian position, where they also fight against the once-a-century health crisis.

The 150 members of Maryland’s guard were divided into 14 teams. Some are responsible for giving the shots to civilians, others assist local and state health departments in other capacities, such as setting up and maintaining sites and establishing social distance protocols at shooting centers and ensuring lines do not become overcrowded with people waiting for a injection.

“Faster moves are going to be complicated for many of these National Guard units because of many complex factors, including civilian careers, family responsibilities and civic chain assignments that also need money,” Moore said.

In Michigan, 59 guard teams in the field are engaged in vaccinations, a total of 369 members.

Michigan was one of the first to deploy the guard for the vaccination mission. So far, the Michigan National Guard has fired more than 8,000 shots, but it has a limited ability to increase deployments. Even with that early aid, only 1.4% of the state was vaccinated.

Another factor delaying the calls of the National Guard in some states is the politicization of the pandemic, which has led some governors to hold back because they have involved the military in a crisis that some people have not yet fully mastered. not.

It has been a terribly busy year for the National Guard. On Wednesday, members were brought to Washington to help secure the Capitol during the deadly riot by supporters of President Donald Trump.

“We’ve had storms, civil unrest and Covid-related missions for months,” said Wayne Hall, spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, which serves as a link between the federal government and the 54 National Guard Units.

“It’s really about each governor how to use the National Guard, governors set the priorities, there is no federal mandate, each state has its own priorities,” he said.