WEBVTT 00:07.040 --> 00:10.720 Good afternoon everybody . So let me 00:10.730 --> 00:13.020 just start off by saying what an 00:13.020 --> 00:15.700 absolute honor and a privilege it has 00:15.700 --> 00:18.090 been to support the department's 00:18.090 --> 00:20.480 response to the covid pandemic over 00:20.480 --> 00:23.170 this past year . I have the utmost 00:23.170 --> 00:25.180 regard for our people in uniform 00:25.190 --> 00:27.640 civilians , contractors who have worked 00:27.640 --> 00:29.973 tirelessly to get through this pandemic , 00:30.840 --> 00:33.100 from testing , to providing medical 00:33.100 --> 00:35.790 care to vaccinations . The men and 00:35.790 --> 00:37.980 women of the Department of Defense 00:38.140 --> 00:40.500 around the world . They've answered the 00:40.500 --> 00:43.910 call and they really lead the way in 00:43.910 --> 00:45.910 terms of moving our country through 00:45.910 --> 00:48.132 this pandemic . You know , on Secretary 00:48.132 --> 00:50.810 Austin's first day , he delivered a 00:50.820 --> 00:53.660 very clear message . It's not just me , 00:53.660 --> 00:56.660 but to the entire department . Covid 19 00:57.040 --> 00:59.270 was the greatest proximate challenge to 00:59.270 --> 01:01.326 our nation's security . And we would 01:01.326 --> 01:03.810 act boldly . We would act quickly to 01:03.810 --> 01:05.810 support the federal response and to 01:05.810 --> 01:08.580 bring an end to this pandemic with 01:08.580 --> 01:11.410 Deputy Secretary Hicks and the vice 01:11.410 --> 01:13.632 chairman general heightens leadership . 01:13.640 --> 01:15.360 They're absolutely tremendous 01:15.360 --> 01:17.890 leadership Of the COVID-19 task force 01:17.900 --> 01:20.190 and the people who supported this 01:20.190 --> 01:22.700 effort . We've remained steadfast in 01:22.700 --> 01:24.256 our commitment to meet this 01:24.256 --> 01:27.040 unprecedented task and to accomplish 01:27.040 --> 01:29.540 many milestones along the way , some of 01:29.540 --> 01:31.596 which I'm honored to be sharing with 01:31.596 --> 01:35.280 you today . As I stated , our people 01:35.280 --> 01:37.391 are at so many of the different front 01:37.391 --> 01:39.502 lines of the pandemic . They continue 01:39.502 --> 01:41.613 to be at those front lines today from 01:41.613 --> 01:43.391 development and distribution of 01:43.391 --> 01:46.030 lifesaving vaccines to administering 01:46.030 --> 01:48.252 those vaccines all around the country . 01:48.640 --> 01:50.751 Specifically , I would like to take a 01:50.751 --> 01:54.450 moment to express our appreciation 01:54.450 --> 01:56.410 for General Gus Partner and his 01:56.410 --> 01:58.632 leadership and his extraordinary team . 01:59.340 --> 02:02.340 Millions upon millions of doses of safe 02:02.350 --> 02:04.572 and effective vaccines and therapeutics 02:04.572 --> 02:06.350 have been made available to the 02:06.350 --> 02:08.461 american people and in support of the 02:08.461 --> 02:10.517 country's global donations thanks to 02:10.517 --> 02:13.100 him and his team . Secretary Austin's 02:13.110 --> 02:14.850 leadership and of course the 02:14.850 --> 02:17.180 President's leadership . We wish him a 02:17.180 --> 02:19.280 happy retirement and are forever 02:19.280 --> 02:21.447 grateful for his incredible service to 02:21.447 --> 02:24.140 the nation and for his historic role in 02:24.140 --> 02:26.870 this fight and for the thousands of 02:26.870 --> 02:29.220 others including the Active duty and 02:29.220 --> 02:31.400 the National Guard , tens of thousands 02:31.840 --> 02:33.951 who have answered the call to support 02:33.951 --> 02:36.350 vaccination efforts and to get a shot 02:36.350 --> 02:40.320 themselves as a department today . Over 02:40.320 --> 02:43.880 68% of our active duty service members 02:43.890 --> 02:46.470 have received at least one dose , over 02:46.470 --> 02:49.930 68% . This is an amazing 02:49.930 --> 02:52.520 feat considering that the majority of 02:52.520 --> 02:54.940 our people represent a younger and 02:54.940 --> 02:56.850 healthier demographic as well as 02:56.850 --> 03:00.260 considering the complex global position 03:01.240 --> 03:03.330 Of our forces and our D . O . D . 03:03.330 --> 03:05.730 personnel in over 40 different 03:05.730 --> 03:08.820 countries . For the nation as a whole , 03:08.830 --> 03:11.190 we've supported over 17 million 03:11.190 --> 03:13.490 vaccinations to the american people as 03:13.490 --> 03:15.800 well as on top of that an additional 03:15.800 --> 03:18.460 4,000,002 D . O . D . Personnel . 03:18.790 --> 03:21.860 That's over 21 million shots and arms 03:22.240 --> 03:24.018 towards the president's goal of 03:24.018 --> 03:26.296 vaccinating as many people as possible . 03:27.140 --> 03:29.251 You know , I visited several of these 03:29.251 --> 03:32.800 sites from L . A . To new york city and 03:32.800 --> 03:34.911 let me just tell you that these sites 03:34.911 --> 03:38.050 were true hole of country feats in 03:38.050 --> 03:40.630 collaboration with fema and so many 03:40.630 --> 03:42.700 other entities . One Colonel , I 03:42.700 --> 03:44.922 remember remarked to Secretary Austin , 03:45.440 --> 03:47.662 he was a leader at one of these sites . 03:47.662 --> 03:49.773 He said , sir , it's not lost on us . 03:49.773 --> 03:51.996 The incredible trust that the nation is 03:51.996 --> 03:54.940 putting in us . The D . O . D . Team 03:54.950 --> 03:58.030 has every single step of the way risen 03:58.030 --> 03:59.974 to the challenge in absolutely awe 03:59.974 --> 04:02.360 inspiring ways . Our Dodea schools , 04:02.740 --> 04:05.050 for instance , across the pacific the 04:05.050 --> 04:07.980 Americas europe , roughly three 04:07.980 --> 04:10.090 quarters of our teachers and school 04:10.090 --> 04:11.923 staff are vaccinated , making it 04:11.923 --> 04:15.250 possible to safely reopen all schools 04:15.260 --> 04:17.316 and child development centers for in 04:17.316 --> 04:19.570 person learning . The Covid task force 04:19.570 --> 04:21.681 has also spearheaded the department's 04:21.681 --> 04:24.100 efforts to accurately track covid 19 04:24.100 --> 04:26.700 data , including cases and later 04:26.700 --> 04:28.980 vaccination rates through the advantage 04:28.980 --> 04:31.550 system . Originally actually meant for 04:31.560 --> 04:33.890 audit reporting , the task force has 04:33.890 --> 04:35.946 been able to more accurately compile 04:35.946 --> 04:38.490 covid data and provide timely and 04:38.490 --> 04:41.220 critical data to D . O . D . Leaders as 04:41.220 --> 04:43.940 well as to the american public On the 04:43.940 --> 04:46.460 testing front . Just this year alone , 04:47.040 --> 04:50.410 D . O . D . has performed over 1.26 04:50.430 --> 04:53.060 million test for the novel coronavirus 04:53.060 --> 04:55.480 that causes COVID-19 . We have 04:55.480 --> 04:57.313 continued to bolster our testing 04:57.313 --> 04:59.390 foundation to ensure that this 04:59.400 --> 05:02.110 absolutely irreplaceable tool of public 05:02.110 --> 05:03.777 health surveillance and force 05:03.777 --> 05:05.999 protection is here to stay for the long 05:05.999 --> 05:08.166 term and that is to include the latest 05:08.166 --> 05:10.780 in genomic sequencing Secretary 05:10.780 --> 05:12.947 Austin's direction . We have conducted 05:12.947 --> 05:15.169 a full strategic review and reassurance 05:15.169 --> 05:17.169 of all covid 19 policy documents in 05:17.169 --> 05:18.947 order to ensure that all of our 05:18.947 --> 05:20.836 guidance , irrespective of who it 05:20.836 --> 05:22.891 touches from force health protection 05:22.891 --> 05:24.724 guidance to so much else that it 05:24.724 --> 05:27.430 reflects the latest in medical guidance 05:27.570 --> 05:29.459 and medical science , from public 05:29.459 --> 05:32.310 health officials , data scientists and 05:32.310 --> 05:34.366 laboratories . And of course , yes , 05:34.366 --> 05:37.550 the CDC we're proud to be offering the 05:37.550 --> 05:40.320 department's unprecedented unmatched 05:40.320 --> 05:42.700 logistical expertise as part of the 05:42.710 --> 05:44.599 interagency effort to support our 05:44.599 --> 05:46.820 allies and partners by delivering 05:46.820 --> 05:48.598 millions of doses of vaccines , 05:48.598 --> 05:51.260 critical supplies like oxygen cylinders 05:51.260 --> 05:54.470 and regulators and 95 masks . Covid 19 05:54.470 --> 05:57.000 rapid diagnostic test kits , as well as 05:57.000 --> 06:00.290 continuing the support the acquisition 06:00.290 --> 06:02.910 of billions of dollars in critical 06:02.910 --> 06:06.560 pandemic supplies and resources . And 06:06.560 --> 06:08.730 as many of you have noted or have seen 06:08.730 --> 06:10.786 earlier this month , president biden 06:10.786 --> 06:12.786 announced that the United States is 06:12.786 --> 06:15.400 donating another 500 million vaccine 06:15.400 --> 06:17.600 doses two nations around the world and 06:17.600 --> 06:19.433 D . O . D . Is proud to continue 06:19.433 --> 06:21.489 supporting this interagency effort . 06:21.489 --> 06:23.990 However we can because as secretary 06:23.990 --> 06:26.330 Austin has said , that's what friends 06:26.330 --> 06:29.460 do as the department continues to 06:29.460 --> 06:32.300 transition to fortify its pandemic 06:32.300 --> 06:34.560 preparedness and to support vaccination 06:34.560 --> 06:36.504 efforts across the country and the 06:36.504 --> 06:38.282 globe . I could not be any more 06:38.282 --> 06:41.400 confident today that we are are on as a 06:41.400 --> 06:44.950 department . And yes , as a nation , a 06:44.950 --> 06:47.490 solid path . In the coming days . The 06:47.490 --> 06:49.830 functions of the COVID-19 task force 06:49.840 --> 06:53.280 will transition to normal operations by 06:53.280 --> 06:55.391 no sense of the word . Are we spiking 06:55.391 --> 06:57.558 the football right now ? Our work as a 06:57.558 --> 07:00.520 department will continue until we see 07:00.530 --> 07:03.260 this global pandemic come to an end . 07:04.040 --> 07:06.070 It's truly been an honor and a 07:06.070 --> 07:08.126 privilege to serve among the men and 07:08.126 --> 07:10.014 women in this department . I look 07:10.014 --> 07:12.181 forward to supporting whatever they do 07:12.181 --> 07:14.348 in the future . As I will be moving on 07:14.348 --> 07:17.010 from my post as senior advisor to 07:17.010 --> 07:19.232 Secretary Defense in the coming weeks . 07:19.640 --> 07:21.960 My sincere gratitude first and foremost 07:21.960 --> 07:24.710 to Secretary Austin for his incredible 07:24.720 --> 07:27.800 his incredible visionary leadership to 07:27.800 --> 07:30.370 Deputy Secretary hicks For incredible 07:30.370 --> 07:32.400 fortitude and leadership of the 07:32.400 --> 07:36.140 COVID-19 Task Force and everyone I've 07:36.140 --> 07:38.251 served with on the covid task force . 07:38.251 --> 07:40.251 The urgency and precision that they 07:40.251 --> 07:42.084 have applied to this . Herculean 07:42.084 --> 07:44.196 mission is a testament to our ability 07:44.640 --> 07:47.360 to enter a new normal way of life . 07:48.510 --> 07:50.510 I'm now going to turn it over to to 07:50.510 --> 07:52.454 absolutely incredible , incredible 07:52.454 --> 07:54.677 individuals who have also been critical 07:54.677 --> 07:56.899 to this operation every step of the way 07:56.899 --> 07:58.843 and who will certainly continue in 07:58.843 --> 08:01.010 their leadership . Public health roles 08:01.010 --> 08:03.290 on this mission . Dr terry Durham and 08:03.290 --> 08:05.401 Lieutenant General Ron . Please thank 08:05.401 --> 08:06.560 you again . 08:13.040 --> 08:16.140 Okay , all right , thank you for 08:16.140 --> 08:18.400 joining us here today . We appreciate 08:18.400 --> 08:20.570 your coverage of the issue before I 08:20.570 --> 08:22.514 proceed with my opening remarks on 08:22.514 --> 08:24.626 behalf of the entire department , but 08:24.626 --> 08:26.681 in particular those of us within the 08:26.681 --> 08:28.737 office of the Assistant Secretary of 08:28.737 --> 08:30.903 Defense for Health Affairs . I want to 08:30.903 --> 08:32.959 extend a tremendous thank you to max 08:32.959 --> 08:35.070 Rose Who were there max and I arrived 08:35.070 --> 08:37.292 on the first day of this administration 08:37.292 --> 08:39.348 and I've seen him work tirelessly to 08:39.348 --> 08:39.110 support the president's efforts to 08:39.110 --> 08:41.650 defeat COVID-19 . Under Max's 08:41.650 --> 08:43.650 leadership , the department made an 08:43.650 --> 08:45.483 incredible amount of progress in 08:45.483 --> 08:47.594 halting the spread of COVID-19 and in 08:47.594 --> 08:49.650 support of the department's whole of 08:49.650 --> 08:49.620 government approach . We are in a 08:49.620 --> 08:51.980 better position today to continue our 08:51.980 --> 08:54.560 efforts . So thank you for that . But I 08:54.560 --> 08:56.616 also want to acknowledge the amazing 08:56.616 --> 08:58.616 work over the last 16 months of our 08:58.616 --> 09:00.727 medical professionals or scientists , 09:00.727 --> 09:02.671 logisticians , data analysts , and 09:02.671 --> 09:04.727 public health experts in uniform and 09:04.727 --> 09:06.727 civilians whose works have work has 09:06.727 --> 09:08.893 saved lives and allowed us to complete 09:08.893 --> 09:11.140 our national security missions . As max 09:11.140 --> 09:14.670 mentioned , we're at 68% of active duty 09:14.670 --> 09:16.726 who are vaccinated with at least one 09:16.726 --> 09:18.890 dose . And we continue our efforts to 09:18.890 --> 09:20.668 encourage our service members , 09:20.668 --> 09:22.723 families and beneficiaries to become 09:22.723 --> 09:24.890 vaccinated and I don't want to put too 09:24.890 --> 09:27.550 fine a point on this . But 31% of our 09:27.560 --> 09:29.690 active duty or under the age of 35 , 09:29.690 --> 09:31.857 which is one of the populations that's 09:31.857 --> 09:35.530 perhaps the toughest to um , to 09:35.540 --> 09:39.440 have vaccinated nationally . So , 09:39.450 --> 09:41.640 um , this is really incredible work 09:41.640 --> 09:44.160 that's been done by the department and 09:44.160 --> 09:46.382 as a pediatrician , I want to note that 09:46.382 --> 09:48.604 our families overseas for which we have 09:48.604 --> 09:50.690 accurate data . Um , they've done a 09:50.690 --> 09:52.760 great job accepting vaccination with 09:52.760 --> 09:56.490 77.4% of 16 to 17 year old 09:56.490 --> 10:00.470 vaccinated and 62.3 of 12 to 15 10:00.470 --> 10:02.359 year olds . Yeah , wow . I'm very 10:02.359 --> 10:04.910 pleased as a pediatrician . As briefed 10:04.910 --> 10:07.077 in our last press conference , we have 10:07.077 --> 10:08.966 centered our vaccination campaign 10:08.966 --> 10:10.966 around the principles of increasing 10:10.966 --> 10:13.077 accessibility to vaccines , providing 10:13.077 --> 10:14.743 opportunities for education , 10:14.743 --> 10:16.799 leveraging our active duty personnel 10:16.799 --> 10:18.800 policies to promote vaccination and 10:18.800 --> 10:21.022 ensuring engagement at the lowest level 10:21.022 --> 10:23.133 to acknowledge and address individual 10:23.133 --> 10:25.750 concerns . The pandemic is not over and 10:25.750 --> 10:27.583 we are not done with our all out 10:27.583 --> 10:29.417 efforts to encourage vaccination 10:30.040 --> 10:32.096 through the course of the pandemic . 10:32.096 --> 10:34.151 Our force health protection measures 10:34.151 --> 10:36.040 have been effective at preventing 10:36.040 --> 10:37.929 infections , hospitalizations and 10:37.929 --> 10:39.873 deaths and importantly are science 10:39.873 --> 10:41.929 based and evidence informed approach 10:41.929 --> 10:43.873 has allowed our service members to 10:43.873 --> 10:45.929 continue their missions . Our health 10:45.929 --> 10:48.040 protection conditions framework . RHB 10:48.040 --> 10:50.130 con for short has led to lower 10:50.130 --> 10:52.400 incidence of covid 19 and military 10:52.400 --> 10:54.622 installations than in their surrounding 10:54.622 --> 10:57.160 communities with the success of the 10:57.160 --> 10:59.540 vaccination campaign and declining case 10:59.540 --> 11:01.707 counts around the country . We've seen 11:01.707 --> 11:03.870 many installations make their HP cons 11:03.870 --> 11:05.820 more permissive as we've begun to 11:05.820 --> 11:08.990 return to normal . However , the delta 11:08.990 --> 11:11.101 variant poses a threat to that return 11:11.101 --> 11:13.080 to normal . We are particularly 11:13.080 --> 11:15.247 concerned with the impact of the delta 11:15.247 --> 11:17.460 variant on our unvaccinated or 11:17.470 --> 11:20.280 partially vaccinated population and its 11:20.280 --> 11:22.510 potential spread at installations that 11:22.510 --> 11:24.760 are located in parts of the country 11:24.760 --> 11:27.370 with low vaccination rates . We have an 11:27.380 --> 11:30.190 active whole genome sequencing program 11:30.340 --> 11:32.940 to identify and track variants and 11:32.940 --> 11:35.107 we're closely watching our D . O . D . 11:35.107 --> 11:37.273 Case counts , positivity rates and the 11:37.273 --> 11:39.384 prevalence of the delta variant among 11:39.384 --> 11:41.860 all the other variants of concern . We 11:41.860 --> 11:44.010 anticipate that health protection 11:44.010 --> 11:46.900 conditions could change at some of our 11:46.900 --> 11:49.570 installations um in the future based on 11:49.580 --> 11:51.880 outbreaks that result from the high 11:51.880 --> 11:54.102 transmit ability of the delta variant , 11:55.840 --> 11:57.830 It's spreading rapidly across 11:57.830 --> 11:59.774 communities with lower vaccination 11:59.774 --> 12:01.608 rates and will likely become the 12:01.608 --> 12:03.719 predominant variant . United States . 12:03.810 --> 12:05.990 Therefore , the delta variant poses a 12:05.990 --> 12:08.101 threat to our service members who are 12:08.101 --> 12:09.879 not fully vaccinated . There is 12:09.879 --> 12:11.712 emerging evidence that the delta 12:11.712 --> 12:13.990 variant may cause more serious disease . 12:13.990 --> 12:16.046 But even mild infections that do not 12:16.046 --> 12:18.268 result in hospitalizations are a threat 12:18.268 --> 12:20.434 because they can cause long term after 12:20.434 --> 12:22.546 effects . So the best way to beat the 12:22.546 --> 12:24.910 delta variant is to be fully vaccinated . 12:24.910 --> 12:27.132 And that's the message that I hope that 12:27.132 --> 12:29.430 you all convey . Studies have shown 12:29.440 --> 12:31.710 that one dose of the MMR vaccines are 12:31.710 --> 12:34.820 only 33% effective against the delta 12:34.820 --> 12:38.120 variant , whereas two are at least 88% 12:38.120 --> 12:40.231 effective . So we are investing great 12:40.231 --> 12:42.064 effort into ensuring our service 12:42.064 --> 12:44.064 members and other beneficiaries get 12:44.064 --> 12:46.240 both doses . So the bottom line is get 12:46.240 --> 12:48.160 vaccinated . They are safe and 12:48.160 --> 12:51.660 effective . General place . Thanks dr 12:51.670 --> 12:53.670 Darren , good afternoon to everyone 12:53.670 --> 12:56.003 here in the room and those on the phone . 12:56.003 --> 12:57.892 I'll briefly expand on just a few 12:57.892 --> 12:57.800 points first regarding the 12:57.800 --> 12:59.911 effectiveness of our Covid vaccines . 12:59.911 --> 13:02.078 I'm happy to report that the number of 13:02.078 --> 13:04.300 individuals hospitalized in D . O . D . 13:04.300 --> 13:06.467 Hospitals with covid has significantly 13:06.467 --> 13:08.467 declined . As of today . We have 21 13:08.467 --> 13:10.689 covid positive individuals hospitalized 13:10.689 --> 13:12.633 has demonstrated on the chart that 13:12.633 --> 13:14.856 you'll see over my left shoulder . This 13:14.856 --> 13:17.020 is a decline from a peak of 240 in 13:17.020 --> 13:19.300 patients on january 8th of this year , 13:19.300 --> 13:21.467 essentially the lowest point we've had 13:21.467 --> 13:23.800 since the earliest days of the pandemic . 13:23.800 --> 13:26.070 The benefits of vaccination are 13:26.070 --> 13:28.320 remarkably clear . Second , if 13:28.320 --> 13:30.376 individuals need further evidence of 13:30.376 --> 13:32.770 why they should get vaccinated . I have 13:32.770 --> 13:35.350 one additional data point of those 21 13:35.350 --> 13:37.350 covid positive individuals and Dont 13:37.350 --> 13:39.710 hospitals . Yesterday , my current 13:39.710 --> 13:41.488 records indicate that none were 13:41.488 --> 13:43.850 vaccinated . Dr Durham noted the 13:43.850 --> 13:45.794 increasing prevalence of the delta 13:45.794 --> 13:47.294 variant and the gap in the 13:47.294 --> 13:49.183 effectiveness of one dose of mRNA 13:49.183 --> 13:51.239 vaccines versus the complete to dose 13:51.239 --> 13:53.610 series . It's compelling evidence for 13:53.610 --> 13:55.777 those who received their first dose in 13:55.777 --> 13:57.943 our system were following up with each 13:57.943 --> 14:00.054 of them to ensure that they get their 14:00.054 --> 14:02.166 second dose or at least significantly 14:02.166 --> 14:04.277 offered that opportunity . Finally we 14:04.277 --> 14:06.388 continue to closely monitor suspected 14:06.388 --> 14:07.999 cases of myocardial tous and 14:07.999 --> 14:09.888 pericarditis associated among are 14:09.888 --> 14:12.221 vaccinated population . As you're aware , 14:12.221 --> 14:14.388 the advisory Committee on immunization 14:14.388 --> 14:16.499 practices met last week to review the 14:16.499 --> 14:18.666 issue , they concluded the benefits of 14:18.666 --> 14:20.690 MRNA covid 19 vaccination greatly 14:20.820 --> 14:23.560 outweigh the potential risks . Most 14:23.560 --> 14:25.782 cases of myocarditis are generally mild 14:25.782 --> 14:27.949 and resolve quickly within the D . O . 14:27.949 --> 14:30.690 D . Our experience is that all 14:30.690 --> 14:32.857 individuals who experience myocarditis 14:32.857 --> 14:34.579 or pericarditis received brief 14:34.579 --> 14:37.370 supportive care and have recovered or 14:37.380 --> 14:39.970 are recovering now . As we approach 14:39.970 --> 14:41.859 Independence Day , all indicators 14:41.859 --> 14:43.914 within the Department of Defense are 14:43.914 --> 14:45.914 moving in a positive direction . We 14:45.914 --> 14:48.248 thank our service members and D . O . D . 14:48.248 --> 14:50.414 Personnel who have been vaccinated and 14:50.414 --> 14:52.359 continue to strongly encourage our 14:52.359 --> 14:54.248 remaining service members diode , 14:54.248 --> 14:56.680 retirees , all of their families and 14:56.680 --> 14:59.870 duty staff to get vaccinated for 14:59.870 --> 15:02.092 themselves , for their families and for 15:02.092 --> 15:03.926 the community . Thanks again for 15:03.926 --> 15:06.037 joining us today and together with Mr 15:06.037 --> 15:08.092 Rose and Dr Dear , I look forward to 15:08.092 --> 15:10.259 your questions . Thank you very much . 15:10.259 --> 15:12.481 So , first question , let's go to Megan 15:12.481 --> 15:15.160 Meier's . So in light of your concerns 15:15.160 --> 15:17.327 about the delta variant and this could 15:17.327 --> 15:19.493 be for either of you guys , is there a 15:19.493 --> 15:21.493 possibility that more installations 15:21.493 --> 15:23.660 could start going into lockdowns based 15:23.660 --> 15:23.530 on what's going on in their areas , 15:23.540 --> 15:26.480 even if people on base are largely 15:26.480 --> 15:28.870 vaccinated ? Yeah , I would be careful 15:28.870 --> 15:30.981 about using the term lockdown because 15:30.981 --> 15:33.203 we're not we're not doing lockdowns but 15:33.203 --> 15:36.700 we do have an HP con framework that is 15:36.700 --> 15:38.870 used at the local level and it's based 15:38.880 --> 15:41.560 on what is going on at the local level , 15:41.560 --> 15:43.780 that an installation commander could 15:43.780 --> 15:46.410 either increase or decrease um where 15:46.410 --> 15:48.910 they are . So a lot of installations 15:48.910 --> 15:52.900 right now are at HP con b bravo 15:52.910 --> 15:54.743 bravo . Thank you . Keep getting 15:54.743 --> 15:57.780 themselves bravo . Um but if they're in 15:57.780 --> 16:00.610 a state or county that is seeing , you 16:00.610 --> 16:03.690 know , increase numbers of cases , they 16:03.700 --> 16:07.560 could then increase the uh HP con 16:07.560 --> 16:11.500 level . So to answer your question , we 16:11.500 --> 16:14.000 have a system in place that helps guide 16:14.000 --> 16:15.944 local communities and making those 16:15.944 --> 16:18.167 decisions . Sure , but the correct . So 16:18.167 --> 16:20.222 my question is , if there are , most 16:20.222 --> 16:22.333 people are the predominance of people 16:22.333 --> 16:24.500 on base are vaccinated , how does that 16:24.500 --> 16:26.444 play into whether they're going to 16:26.444 --> 16:28.611 change a health protection level based 16:28.611 --> 16:28.470 on what's going on ? If they're in a 16:28.470 --> 16:30.470 town that is under vaccinated , for 16:30.470 --> 16:32.803 instance . Right , Well , the community , 16:32.803 --> 16:34.470 it's really based on what the 16:34.470 --> 16:36.803 conditions are in the community . Right ? 16:36.803 --> 16:39.026 So if we're at 68% of active duty being 16:39.026 --> 16:42.070 vaccinated , then there's 32% that are 16:42.070 --> 16:44.292 not vaccinated . So those people are at 16:44.292 --> 16:47.570 risk . So again , it's based on what 16:47.570 --> 16:49.480 the conditions are in the local 16:49.480 --> 16:52.690 community in the county . And you know , 16:52.690 --> 16:55.350 a commander could make a decision about 16:55.640 --> 16:58.460 um what kind of uh 16:58.840 --> 17:01.480 protection that's needed . If I could 17:01.690 --> 17:03.301 have just a bit more to that 17:03.301 --> 17:05.412 vaccination , just one of the factors 17:05.412 --> 17:07.412 that the local commander would take 17:07.412 --> 17:07.110 into consideration . As you've already 17:07.110 --> 17:09.388 mentioned , What's the positivity rate ? 17:09.388 --> 17:11.499 What's the total numbers ? What's the 17:11.499 --> 17:13.388 vaccination rate in the community 17:13.388 --> 17:15.221 versus that that's that's on the 17:15.221 --> 17:15.000 installation . It's a multifactorial 17:15.000 --> 17:17.170 decision . The health protection 17:17.180 --> 17:19.260 condition , guidance . That health 17:19.260 --> 17:21.482 affairs has written in policy gives all 17:21.482 --> 17:23.204 of those factors for the local 17:23.204 --> 17:25.093 commander to use in that decision 17:25.093 --> 17:26.871 making process . Forget Caitlin 17:26.871 --> 17:29.260 straight strips . Yes . Thank you about 17:29.260 --> 17:31.760 that data . You mentioned earlier that 17:31.770 --> 17:33.937 those installations that were under HP 17:33.937 --> 17:37.800 conditions um had significantly lower 17:37.800 --> 17:39.967 rates in some cases in the surrounding 17:39.967 --> 17:42.078 communities . Do you have any of that 17:42.078 --> 17:45.190 data available for us to show the 17:45.200 --> 17:48.430 difference ? Um , There's a lot of 17:48.430 --> 17:51.580 local communities , so I'm 17:51.580 --> 17:54.780 sure you mentioned that though . So I 17:54.780 --> 17:57.590 mean , I mean the installations have 17:57.600 --> 18:00.360 this information on their websites , so . 18:00.370 --> 18:03.270 Right . Um , I don't know if they do . 18:03.640 --> 18:05.418 For instance , I just came from 18:05.418 --> 18:09.160 Yokosuka japan . What would be the 18:09.160 --> 18:12.450 insulation difference between on base 18:12.450 --> 18:14.650 versus in that surrounding community ? 18:15.020 --> 18:17.242 That's not something that they would be 18:17.242 --> 18:19.730 forthcoming with and they were banned 18:19.730 --> 18:21.920 from sharing that information so that 18:21.920 --> 18:24.680 the local . So we do have that 18:24.680 --> 18:27.080 information internally . We have not 18:27.080 --> 18:29.910 shared it . We continue to monitor it 18:29.920 --> 18:33.040 on a weekly basis . The overall 18:33.040 --> 18:36.180 communities have largely over the last 18:36.180 --> 18:38.720 five months been declining . But within 18:38.720 --> 18:40.609 that you can tell from the little 18:40.609 --> 18:42.831 spikes on the charts . Not up anymore , 18:42.831 --> 18:44.998 but on the little spikes in the charts 18:44.998 --> 18:47.164 that even though the general direction 18:47.164 --> 18:49.164 is down , there are some increasing 18:49.164 --> 18:48.770 little spikes even while the direction 18:48.770 --> 18:50.714 is down . And and sometimes that's 18:50.714 --> 18:52.770 because a community has a particular 18:52.770 --> 18:55.560 challenge . So we do follow the local 18:55.560 --> 18:57.616 community , we make that information 18:57.616 --> 18:59.500 available to the local leaders , 18:59.500 --> 19:02.310 whether they choose to share broadly or 19:02.310 --> 19:04.532 just with the public health community . 19:04.532 --> 19:06.532 That's up to the local leaders , it 19:06.532 --> 19:08.421 would be great to be able to show 19:08.421 --> 19:10.421 whether or not those conditions are 19:10.421 --> 19:12.588 actually making a difference with data 19:12.588 --> 19:14.754 or if there's a example like Clean had 19:14.754 --> 19:16.810 a huge spike . But Fort Hood did not 19:16.810 --> 19:19.290 have that same spike . So just sort of 19:19.300 --> 19:23.290 busting . You can take we'll take it 19:23.290 --> 19:25.401 to see what's what we can release and 19:25.401 --> 19:27.940 what we can base is like you know look 19:27.940 --> 19:30.107 at five of the bigger bases in the U . 19:30.107 --> 19:33.070 S . And the numbers possible . We'll 19:33.070 --> 19:35.070 see how we can do it to answer your 19:35.070 --> 19:37.181 question and yet still be with what's 19:37.181 --> 19:39.850 releasable . Let's let's go to the 19:39.860 --> 19:43.490 phone to paul Shenkman us news . Yeah . 19:43.490 --> 19:45.550 Hi thanks for doing this . Um Army 19:45.550 --> 19:47.606 Secretary Warmth said yesterday that 19:47.606 --> 19:51.390 only 55% of the army has has 19:51.390 --> 19:54.550 received the Covid vaccine Which is 19:54.550 --> 19:56.661 pretty far below the national average 19:56.661 --> 20:00.550 for Americans who are eligible . Do you 20:00.550 --> 20:02.880 have those percentages for each of the 20:02.880 --> 20:05.047 services that you can provide us ? And 20:05.047 --> 20:07.540 then follow up questions that 55% did 20:07.540 --> 20:10.320 she say active duty all service members 20:10.320 --> 20:14.060 are all army service members employees . 20:14.070 --> 20:17.430 So we have to know what that is . Yeah , 20:17.440 --> 20:20.200 I don't have that right now . Do you , 20:20.210 --> 20:22.377 do you have that you can provide to us 20:22.377 --> 20:24.543 at least just the active duty for each 20:24.543 --> 20:28.340 of the services ? Mhm . Yeah . 20:29.040 --> 20:31.262 So I don't want to speak for any of the 20:31.262 --> 20:34.260 services . My best uh conjecture based 20:34.260 --> 20:38.050 on the data that we have is that for 20:38.060 --> 20:41.270 active duty army , 20:41.940 --> 20:44.800 70% have received at least one does 20:45.640 --> 20:48.570 my suspicion . Although I don't want to 20:48.570 --> 20:50.410 speculate that she may have been 20:50.410 --> 20:53.520 talking about either uh total right 20:53.520 --> 20:55.631 full vaccination of the active armory 20:55.631 --> 20:58.200 or perhaps some semblance of the total 20:58.200 --> 21:00.200 army . But without the context , we 21:00.200 --> 21:03.460 really can't help reframe her statement . 21:04.240 --> 21:06.407 Yeah , fair enough . Can you just give 21:06.407 --> 21:08.629 us what the active duty percentages are 21:08.629 --> 21:10.796 for each of the services ? Do you have 21:10.796 --> 21:13.129 that now or can you get that back to us ? 21:13.129 --> 21:15.129 Yeah , well , I can give you the at 21:15.129 --> 21:17.129 least one dose data . That's what I 21:17.129 --> 21:19.351 track every single day and the at least 21:19.351 --> 21:21.900 one dose of the active duty force for 21:21.900 --> 21:24.280 the Navy . Active duty navy at least 21:24.280 --> 21:27.510 one dose , 77% . At least one dose 21:27.520 --> 21:31.270 active duty army is 70% at least one 21:31.270 --> 21:34.770 dose . Active duty air force is 61 21:35.240 --> 21:37.580 At least one dose . Active duty Marine 21:37.580 --> 21:41.440 Corps is 58% . I'll 21:41.440 --> 21:43.930 ask for your indulgence is as we're 21:43.940 --> 21:46.360 managing who's in the space Force and 21:46.370 --> 21:48.537 how do we manage that ? We don't track 21:48.537 --> 21:50.690 that on an everyday basis so I don't 21:50.690 --> 21:53.670 have that one . I apologize . Mhm . 21:54.340 --> 21:56.451 Very good thanks . Let's go back here 21:56.451 --> 21:58.673 in the room , Courtney . NBC . Do you , 21:58.673 --> 22:01.470 is there any way is there any way to 22:01.470 --> 22:05.120 know how many of how many 22:05.130 --> 22:07.297 active duty service members have had ? 22:07.297 --> 22:09.463 The first dose and not the second ? Is 22:09.463 --> 22:11.930 there a big gulf a big break and the 22:11.930 --> 22:14.041 ones who are not getting their second 22:14.041 --> 22:16.208 dose numbers on that ? We do have that 22:16.208 --> 22:18.374 data . Um Yeah , the challenge with it 22:18.374 --> 22:22.260 is right . So for 22:22.260 --> 22:24.316 all service members we do have it on 22:24.316 --> 22:28.240 the site . The challenge there's 22:28.240 --> 22:30.520 fully impartially right for those who 22:30.520 --> 22:32.576 are who are in a vaccine series that 22:32.576 --> 22:34.742 requires to those are the ones that we 22:34.742 --> 22:36.853 drag is partially vaccinated . Um and 22:36.853 --> 22:38.798 it is in the tens of thousands for 22:38.798 --> 22:41.150 those who are due for a second dose , 22:41.150 --> 22:43.483 who have not yet received a second dose . 22:43.483 --> 22:45.539 And in my prepared comments , that's 22:45.539 --> 22:47.594 the delta that I was talking about . 22:47.594 --> 22:49.428 Those are the ones were actively 22:49.428 --> 22:49.260 communicating with . Was there a 22:49.260 --> 22:51.593 barrier ? Was there , were you deployed ? 22:51.593 --> 22:53.704 Were you given another mission ? Were 22:53.704 --> 22:55.927 you sick ? What was the reason for it ? 22:55.927 --> 22:58.149 And is there anything that we can do to 22:58.149 --> 22:58.010 help facilitate you getting your second 22:58.010 --> 23:00.660 dose ? And then two other numbers 23:00.660 --> 23:04.180 questions . Um Do you have , how many 23:04.190 --> 23:07.320 activities service members have Got ? 23:07.320 --> 23:09.940 My car dinosaur ? Is it pericarditis or 23:10.600 --> 23:12.960 both ? I've gotten you know how many 23:12.960 --> 23:15.071 have gotten it and can be tied to the 23:15.071 --> 23:18.090 vaccine ? Well the numbers that we have 23:18.090 --> 23:20.860 as of June 9th we're 30 , it's active 23:20.860 --> 23:23.190 duty and retirees and I don't have the 23:23.190 --> 23:25.301 break out of that particular number . 23:25.301 --> 23:28.800 In the Jama cardiology paper , it was 23:28.800 --> 23:32.310 23 between january and april . Um And 23:32.310 --> 23:34.920 it was all but one were active duty . 23:34.930 --> 23:38.520 Um The we work with and 23:38.520 --> 23:41.170 collaborate with the C . D . C . Um on 23:41.170 --> 23:43.790 this particular issue . Um And they're 23:43.790 --> 23:45.901 the ones who make the determination , 23:45.901 --> 23:48.123 you know the investigation to determine 23:48.123 --> 23:49.790 whether or not it was just an 23:49.790 --> 23:52.960 association versus causation . So we're 23:52.960 --> 23:55.960 calling it an association . Um the good 23:55.960 --> 23:58.180 news is that all of those service 23:58.180 --> 24:00.650 members have either fully recovered or 24:00.650 --> 24:03.280 recovered and was a fairly benign um 24:03.290 --> 24:06.420 short lived condition . But any cases 24:06.420 --> 24:08.400 that come to our attention we do 24:08.400 --> 24:11.580 investigate and I think it demonstrates 24:11.580 --> 24:13.636 that we have very sensitive and very 24:13.636 --> 24:16.650 good safety systems in place , not only 24:16.650 --> 24:19.170 within D . O . D , but within CDC as 24:19.170 --> 24:21.960 well . And the number of service 24:21.960 --> 24:23.960 members who tested positive for the 24:23.960 --> 24:25.960 delta variant , Do you have that as 24:25.960 --> 24:28.640 well ? Well , for those that Remember , 24:28.650 --> 24:31.120 the number that we do genomic 24:31.120 --> 24:33.342 sequencing on is a very small number so 24:33.342 --> 24:35.453 far through the pandemic . We've done 24:35.453 --> 24:37.509 genomic sequencing at least a report 24:37.509 --> 24:40.030 that I got on Friday of 6,409 different 24:40.040 --> 24:42.940 cases . Of those , 6,409 different 24:42.940 --> 24:45.200 cases , there have been 25 that were 24:45.200 --> 24:47.660 the delta variant . Of those , 24:47.670 --> 24:50.900 6,409 , just over 1800 were a variant 24:50.900 --> 24:52.733 of concern by far and away . The 24:52.733 --> 24:54.844 majority were the alpha variant which 24:54.844 --> 24:57.830 is the UK variant . But I'll give you a 24:57.830 --> 25:01.120 caveat to this . 22 of those , 25 were 25:01.120 --> 25:03.510 positive deltas in the last two weeks 25:03.520 --> 25:05.990 and it takes approximately two weeks to 25:05.990 --> 25:08.710 do genomic sequencing . So we're always 25:08.710 --> 25:10.877 going to have a little bit of data lag 25:10.877 --> 25:13.043 when it comes to variants of concern . 25:13.043 --> 25:15.043 But so far the majority are not the 25:15.043 --> 25:17.154 delta variant but we are now starting 25:17.154 --> 25:19.266 to see it in our popular right and we 25:19.266 --> 25:21.950 do monitor just all um of the whole 25:21.950 --> 25:23.839 genomic sequencing , you know the 25:23.839 --> 25:26.710 numbers um and where um the delta 25:26.710 --> 25:29.120 variant seems to be transmitted . Um 25:29.130 --> 25:31.186 It's super important that people get 25:31.186 --> 25:33.352 vaccinated to stop that transmission . 25:33.352 --> 25:35.408 So where it's transmitting while the 25:35.408 --> 25:37.408 CDC has that data for active duty , 25:37.408 --> 25:39.630 they have active duty available . I 25:39.640 --> 25:41.970 don't , yeah I don't know how many of 25:41.970 --> 25:44.910 those 25 were active component versus 25:44.910 --> 25:47.021 family members versus retirees . This 25:47.021 --> 25:49.077 is the total of everybody that we're 25:49.077 --> 25:51.300 sequencing . We do a certain percent of 25:51.310 --> 25:54.930 the positive covid pcR tests um 25:54.940 --> 25:58.510 you know and uh and then do the whole 25:58.510 --> 26:01.470 genomic sequencing . So not all on one 26:01.470 --> 26:04.190 site either . Even though the number is 26:04.190 --> 26:06.190 very very small . We're seeing very 26:06.190 --> 26:08.910 small numbers one or two or maybe three 26:08.920 --> 26:10.920 at several different locations . So 26:10.920 --> 26:12.753 we're not seeing spikes of delta 26:12.753 --> 26:15.120 anywhere . Again , data lag this that 26:15.120 --> 26:17.287 there are at least two weeks old these 26:17.287 --> 26:19.287 data points . And if I could add an 26:19.287 --> 26:21.176 additional point to the uh Doctor 26:21.176 --> 26:23.342 Durham's answer to your question about 26:23.342 --> 26:25.342 pericarditis and myocarditis , I'll 26:25.342 --> 26:27.564 remind all of us that we've seen in the 26:27.564 --> 26:29.731 D . O . D . At least hundreds of cases 26:29.731 --> 26:31.731 of myocarditis and pericarditis for 26:31.731 --> 26:33.676 those who were covid infected . So 26:33.676 --> 26:35.842 we're talking about relative risk here 26:35.842 --> 26:38.130 that risk to the heart is markedly 26:38.130 --> 26:40.760 higher from an infection than it is 26:40.760 --> 26:42.927 from a vaccination . And anybody who's 26:42.927 --> 26:45.149 going to be doing a risk based decision 26:45.149 --> 26:47.316 making should have both pieces of that 26:47.316 --> 26:47.250 information . And I would add to that . 26:47.260 --> 26:49.490 The ill effects of covid overall not 26:49.490 --> 26:51.550 just the heart effects of covid are 26:51.550 --> 26:53.720 just far greater than the tiny numbers 26:53.720 --> 26:57.060 that we're seeing post vaccination to . 26:59.440 --> 27:02.220 Okay any any additional questions to 27:02.220 --> 27:05.260 come back to those . There's pediatric 27:05.260 --> 27:07.427 numbers that you mentioned earlier . I 27:07.427 --> 27:10.310 was impressed by those . Um Or do you 27:10.320 --> 27:12.431 think it's because they're overseas ? 27:12.431 --> 27:14.487 Do you have any understanding of why 27:14.487 --> 27:16.653 it's so high ? I don't think we really 27:16.653 --> 27:19.210 know exactly why . Um And we really 27:19.210 --> 27:21.210 don't have the numbers Conus either 27:21.210 --> 27:23.432 because people can get vaccinated , you 27:23.432 --> 27:25.488 know , at Walgreens , right ? We may 27:25.488 --> 27:27.850 not have that data , but um so I don't 27:27.850 --> 27:31.010 think we can really say why . I'm just 27:31.010 --> 27:33.121 glad that they are getting vaccinated 27:33.121 --> 27:35.343 really higher than the national rate of 27:35.343 --> 27:35.280 teams . I don't know if you know that 27:35.280 --> 27:37.760 information . I don't think I have that 27:37.760 --> 27:40.450 off the top of my head . Yeah . Yeah . 27:40.460 --> 27:42.571 No , that's a great question though . 27:42.571 --> 27:45.000 Yeah . Okay . Todd Lopez . 27:46.100 --> 27:50.080 Good afternoon . I assume that service 27:50.080 --> 27:52.191 members on installations would prefer 27:52.280 --> 27:54.650 that the the health protection 27:54.650 --> 27:57.000 condition doesn't go up because it 27:57.010 --> 28:00.260 reduces their freedom of movement . 28:00.930 --> 28:04.000 Is it fair to say that a service 28:04.000 --> 28:05.944 member's failure to get vaccinated 28:05.944 --> 28:08.056 increases the chances that the health 28:08.056 --> 28:10.330 protection condition might go up for 28:10.330 --> 28:14.000 their fellow service members ? I would 28:14.000 --> 28:17.860 say increasing increasing rates of 28:17.860 --> 28:21.620 covid 19 infection um increases , you 28:21.620 --> 28:23.842 know , in a local community , increases 28:23.842 --> 28:25.953 the chance that a local commander , a 28:25.953 --> 28:27.898 local installation commander would 28:27.898 --> 28:31.690 decide to change the HP con uh 28:31.700 --> 28:34.830 level um getting vaccinated prevents 28:34.830 --> 28:36.800 that transmission . So I wouldn't 28:36.800 --> 28:39.078 directly say one individual , you know , 28:39.078 --> 28:41.670 is at fault , but so . 28:43.240 --> 28:45.920 Okay . Okay . I think that's it for 28:45.920 --> 28:48.920 questions . So uh general place dr 28:48.920 --> 28:51.087 Aguirre Mr Rose , thank you all very , 28:51.087 --> 28:53.253 very much . And this concludes today's 28:53.253 --> 28:56.440 briefing . Mhm . Yeah .