Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Tristan Lotz | 2100401-N-ME396-1009 GROTON, Conn. (April 1, 2021) Connecticut Army National Guard...... read more read more
GROTON, Conn. – Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) New London and the Connecticut National Guard joined forces to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to approximately 1,000 Sailors and eligible Navy personnel on the base, Thursday, April 1.
In what the services viewed as a proof of a “concept of operations,” Connecticut National Guard medical personnel oversaw the distribution of Pfizer vaccine, accounting for dosages administered by Navy personnel; and the Navy executed a comprehensive plan to notify, check-in, and administer the vaccine to a large scale number of their service members. Up to this point, the base had been limited by the availability of vaccine.
“We greatly appreciate the Connecticut National Guard supporting this joint effort to conduct a mass vaccination clinic and help us prove a concept of operations,” said Capt. Todd Moore, SUBASE New London commanding officer. “We’ve practiced for mass vaccinations in the past with annual flu shots, vaccinating several hundred personnel in a day. And we’ve been able to conduct similar operations with the COVID-19 vaccine when availability has allowed.”
Thursday’s collaborative effort to administer 1,000 doses of vaccine was the first major-scale validation of the base’s plan, and both services shared lessons-learned from the previous smaller base clinics and from the Guard’s widespread experience assisting vaccination sites around the state.
“Efficiency is key; aggressively getting after shots in arms isn’t just essential for public health, it’s essential for maintaining and building readiness,” said Maj. Gen. Francis Evon, Adjutant General and Commander of the Connecticut National Guard. “Readiness requires working efficiently across service lines, across active and reserve component lines, to keep the nation safe come whatever may.”
For SUBASE New London, the Guard’s joint cooperation in “working across service lines” was instrumental in proving the concept and “getting shots in arms” for a large number of people.
“This is really a ‘shot in the arm’ for all us,” said Moore. “It’s proof of collegial cooperation leading to joint success and proof that we’ve established a process and procedure to safely and efficiently vaccinate this larger number of personnel. We hope to continue to be able to schedule events like this, when supplies are available. It not only ensures our mission readiness but helps all of us reach community immunity.”
When the clinic concluded, the 1,000 doses allowed for the vaccination of Sailors from 9 submarine crews, hundreds of Naval Submarine School students and staff, and other critical, base tenant command personnel.
The Department of Defense’s vaccine supply is a separate allocation than that given to states for distribution to the public. This supply is prioritized based on the DoD’s schema and currently includes all uniformed members of the department, civilian employees and Tricare-enrolled dependents.
The Connecticut National Guard’s mission assisting the state Department of Public Health with vaccination sites around the state is a separate mission using the state’s vaccine allocation.
The Connecticut National Guard aggressively pursued getting the cold storage equipment necessary to be able to store any of the COVID-19 vaccines currently under Emergency Use Authorization, resulting in National Guard Bureau authorizing higher than average numbers of vaccines for Connecticut.
| Date Taken: | 04.01.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2021 13:53 |
| Story ID: | 393046 |
| Location: | GROTON, CT, US |
| Web Views: | 208 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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