By Scott Prater
Mountaineer staff
Editor’s note: The following was current as of Jan. 20, 2021. For continuous and the most up-to-date information, visit https://www.carson.army.mil.
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Fort Carson leaders hosted their first COVID-19 virtual town hall update since the holiday leave Jan. 13, 2021.
Speaking from Evans Army Community Hospital (EACH), Maj. Gen. Matthew W. McFarlane, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, announced that vaccine doses have arrived at Fort Carson and select community members have already received their first dose. Command Sgt. Maj. Adam Nash, senior enlisted leader, 4th Inf. Div. and Fort Carson, joined McFarlane to provide updates about pandemic trends on post and news about the vaccine.
“As of (Jan. 12, 2021) across the country there were approximately 22.7 million people who have contracted COVID-19 and there have been 373,167 deaths,” said the commanding general. “In Colorado, we have had 362,825 cases and more than 4,000 deaths. And El Paso County has seen the number of (reported positive cases) double over the last two weeks.”
El Paso County is currently at level orange. This means community members are strongly advised to stay at home. Personal gatherings should be limited to 10 people or less from no more than two households.
Restaurants must operate at 25% capacity, or no more than 50 people, and alcohol cannot be served after 10 p.m., to name a few restrictions.
“Fort Carson continues to see a spike in positive cases after the scheduled holiday leave,” McFarlane said. “It was important to allow travel during the holidays for the emotional well-being of everyone, some who haven’t seen their Families in months or years. That is why as people came back, we instituted a restriction of movement, and I wanted to reinforce our COVID-19 (protection) measures to prevent any possible spread after the travel. This pandemic is not over, and we must all continue to be vigilant every day.”
McFarlane said he and Nash had received the vaccine earlier in the week, as well as many other people with priority, provided by the DOD.
“Late last year, the Department of Defense published a vaccine distribution plan which is broken into phases,” he explained. “We will follow this plan here at Fort Carson to ensure everyone is provided the opportunity to be vaccinated, if they so choose.”
EACH received its first COVID-19 vaccines Dec. 21 and began vaccinating the installation’s first responders, including health care workers, emergency services and support personnel as part of the first phase. To date, all volunteering first responders on Fort Carson and emergency medical care personnel in this phase have been vaccinated.
Fort Carson transitioned Jan. 8 to inoculating national critical capabilities including strategic and nuclear deterrence forces and homeland defense and personnel preparing to deploy outside the continental U.S. within the next several months.
“I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (Jan. 12, 2021, and I wanted to relay) my methodology and decision to receive the vaccine,” McFarlane said.
“One: it’s safe. It has been approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, and it’s being administered across the country. And I believe it’s important for me to keep those that I love safe as well as other Soldiers and colleagues I work with on a daily basis. I’m also interested in getting back to normal as soon as possible, and this vaccine is one of the key ways to do that as we look at moving through this spring and summer.”
The vaccine being administered at EACH is the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine. Fort Carson is publishing as much information about the vaccine to help inform Soldiers, Families and community members to ensure people are making educated decisions.
Clinical studies show the vaccine is 94% effective at preventing COVID-19 after the second dose. Comparatively, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in an average year, the flu vaccine has about a 40-60% effective rate.
“It’s important to remember both the flu and COVID-19 are circulating and both can be deadly,” McFarlane said. “I urge our entire community to get vaccinated against both as soon as they can. I highly encourage you to volunteer to get the COVID-19 vaccine and the flu shot.”
This Moderna vaccine is administered as a shot in the arm.
It is a two-dose series given 28 days apart and reports indicate the second dose is critical to ensure the 94% effectiveness rate.
The commanding general explained that receiving the vaccination is not mandatory, however, he strongly encourages community members to consider getting vaccinated for their own health and the greater community.
“As I mentioned up front, the number of fatalities across the country is over 4,000 a day,” he said. “I think we had another record high (number of attributable deaths Jan. 12, 2021). So do this to protect (yourself), your Family and the entire community.”
While vaccine distribution is ramping up across the nation, Fort Carson leaders announced COVID-19 preventive measures will remain in place and be enforced to safeguard the community and mission readiness.
“From the thousands of people who have been vaccinated at Fort Carson, the tens of thousands involved in research studies for the vaccine, and the 9 million (people) already vaccinated across the United States, we have found the vaccine to be very safe, effective and well-tolerated,” McFarlane said. “Most people will only experience soreness at the injection site.”
McFarlane also asked a couple of EACH medical professionals to relay their experiences of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Capt. Adrienne McCormick, a registered nurse at EACH, said she was initially hesitant to receive the shot due to the speed at which it was developed.
“I made the decision to receive the vaccine to protect myself, the patients at EACH and my friends and Family,” she said. “I’m happy to report, however, that I received the vaccine last week and my only side effect was a sore arm the next day.”
Sgt. Brittany Koppenhaver, a licensed practical nurse and NCO in charge of the Family Care Ward at EACH, received her first dose Dec. 23.
“I had some soreness in my arm but did an upper-body workout to alleviate that soreness,” she said. “I volunteered to the get the vaccine for the safety of my Family and coworkers, their Families and the community that I serve in. I’m very proud and honored to be able to assist in administrating the vaccine because it’s important to provide awareness and show people there is hope.”
McCormick answered several frequently asked questions about the vaccine and the shot, saying among other things that it is not possible to contract the virus from the vaccine, and those who initially decline to receive the vaccine can still obtain one later based on its availability.
“We encourage everyone to ensure you educate yourself and make a decision based on facts and the science that’s out there,” McFarlane said during his closing remarks. “My perception is that there is a lot of misinformation out there, so make sure you use the information we are providing on the carson.army.mil website (https://www.carson.army.mil). It’s fair and balanced and provides the facts and relevant science. We will continue to assess the environment, prioritize and protect our service members, Families and civilians as we have throughout this entire pandemic experience and safeguard national security capabilities, maintain the readiness our nation requires as we continue to move forward, and hopefully beat this pandemic in the near term.”
| Date Taken: | 01.13.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.09.2021 15:12 |
| Story ID: | 390953 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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