Photo By Katie Gray | U.S. service members and civilians received their second dose of the Moderna COVID-19...... read more read more
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Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji has seen its share of firsts and accomplishments in the past year, but for Col. Robert Bodisch, installation commanding officer, the most exciting accomplishment has been the installation’s over 90% COVID-19 vaccination rate, Gotemba, Japan, April 2, 2021.
Out of the installation’s nearly 200 uniformed and civilian personnel, over 90% have received either the single dose Janssen or dual dose Moderna vaccine, important milestones in the fight against COVID-19 mitigating further spread of the ongoing virus.
“That makes me feel good, it’s I think a credit to our leaders, a credit to our medical section and it’s really a credit to the Marines to realize that for us to get to any kind of sense of normal, the vaccine was our best bet,” Col. Bodisch said.
Acknowledging Marine concerns and combating misinformation were the main focus of the command team to ensure troop welfare and mission readiness Sgt. Maj. Restituto Paz, installation sergeant major, said.
“We literally went from shop to shop because it’s better if they’re in their own ‘comfort zone’, if they’re in their shop they can ask us questions that in that big general area—if other Marines there—they’re afraid to ask questions,” he said.
The command team was in the first wave of Marines from the installation to receive the Moderna dose in March, a choice Col. Bodisch said was a “little difficult” considering he wanted to prioritize the wellbeing of the USMC stand-in force. However at the same time, he didn’t want to dismiss service member concerns.
“It’s hard for me to ask Marines to do something if I am not willing –or [Sgt. Maj. Paz] isn’t willing to accept it. Because how can I understand a Marine who has an adverse reaction or may feel the effects of a vaccine if I didn’t go through it myself?” he said.
As a combined arms training center, CATC Camp Fuji cycles through thousands of individuals from training units during a normal year. Even in 2020, training units continued to train with mitigation measures at the base, including two weeks of “restriction of movement” or ROM.
Those measures are what Col. Bodisch credits to the installation’s success at never having a positive COVID case from community spread since the start of the pandemic. Widespread vaccination, Col. Bodisch said, is vital not just to ensure the wellbeing of training units, but for the local Japanese employees as well.
“Because they’re on a different cycle, we feel, that was the other reason that I thought it was important that the camp get a high rate of vaccines… I think that should give them a lot more confidence that they’re working in a very safe environment.”
With that in mind, Col. Bodisch said the installation’s goal going forward is to assist visiting training units with acquiring vaccinations as well, “We also want to make sure that we remain protected, our [Japanese employees] remain protected and that’s why I feel like we owe [training units] every possibility to get vaccinated, we owe them that chance.”
Sgt. Maj. Paz agrees. “The Marine Corps is supposed to be the stand-in force here,” he said, “We owe it to those junior Marines to at least give that pitch to them. It’s going to protect you and that Marine to your left and to your right.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2021 00:36 |
| Story ID: | 393012 |
| Location: | GOTENBA, SHIZUOKA, JP |
| Web Views: | 94 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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