Photo By Chief Petty Officer Matthew Cole | NORFOLK, Va. (May 09, 2021) – Approximately 120 Sailors from the Naval Medical...... read more read more
NORFOLK, Va. (May 09, 2021) – Approximately 120 Sailors from the Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Portsmouth, and the Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadrons deployed together to the Community Vaccination Center (CVC) at the former Macy’s in the Military Circle Mall in Norfolk, as part of the federal vaccine response. Ten nurses from NMRTC oversee the vaccination process at the center.
“Our normal days consist of our morning meetings, where we break down the staff to figure out how many corpsman we have, and look over the numbers of how many walk-ins we expect, then we prepare the tables setting everything up and sanitize.” said U.S. Navy Lt. Kourgee Williams, a nurse assigned to NMRTC. Kourgee has been with NMRTC for two years and has been deployed at the vaccination site for three months with nine other nurses.
The (CVC) in Norfolk aims for 3,000 vaccinations daily. The vaccines are free, and the effort brings vaccines to community members who have been unable to receive in their area. As soon as the vaccination stations are set up, they begin providing vaccinations to community members at 9 a.m. and continue through to 7 p.m.
“Everybody’s been walking around wearing masks, you can’t see anybody’s face, and everyone is stuck in the house. We need to get back to what normal used to be,” Kourgee said. “The hope is that this goes away, it would be nice to get back to a point where we don’t have to worry about any of this anymore,” she added.
As a child she was always interested in everything medical and as she got older everything nursing. “It was a natural progression for me. I love helping people where I can, especially in the community, helping others get better. I also really enjoy the teaching aspect behind all of it, “said Kourgee.
The federal vaccine response is comprised of several agencies including multiple emergency management teams. There are currently 39 other vaccination centers located in 25 states, the centers are operated by a joint service effort all from varying background, pooling their expertise to provide the vaccine to as many people as possible.
“The community response has been amazing, we are thanked a lot for our service and thanked a lot for coming out and actually doing this for them, it’s all worth it. It’s been so great,” Kourgee said
Sailors from across Hampton Roads are supporting Department of Defense federal vaccine response efforts in vaccination sites in across the nation. U.S. North Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing continued, flexible Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the whole-of-government response to COVID-19.
| Date Taken: | 05.09.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.10.2021 13:06 |
| Story ID: | 395998 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 170 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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