WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to the 21st medical

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group . I'm Colonel Patrick poli and

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this is this week's rendition of

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medical minutes . Today I'd like to

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give a little bit of an update on the

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Covid vaccine mandate for active duty

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personnel . As many if not most of you

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know , the Secretary of defense has

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made it clear that the Covid vaccine is

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now mandatory for active duty personnel .

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But many have been waiting on the

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Department of the Air Force to weigh in

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on more specifics regarding this

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mandate . I have some additional

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information . Therefore , on this

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particular topic here are some salient

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points for your consideration . First

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of all , active duty airmen and

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guardians will be fully vaccinated by

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two November 2021 . So this is the

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first time we have the time frame

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actually documented for us to go on .

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So again , people must be fully

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vaccinated by two November 2021 .

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And here's a reminder that the

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Department of the Air Force is offered

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for us only Covid 19 vaccines that

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received full I singer from the Food

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and Drug Administration will be

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utilized for mandatory vaccinations

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unless the military member volunteers

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to receive the vaccine that has

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obtained FDA emergency use

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authorization . What does that really

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mean ? Well for us here at the Peterson

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Schriever Garrison in the 21st Medical

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Group it means that we present Fighter

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and fighter indeed has received full

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FDA authorization . However , I know

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many folks would prefer to go to a

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local facility , local drugstore , a

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location that offers a different type

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of vaccine . If they do that on a

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voluntary basis , then all they have to

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do is bring that information back to us

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in public health and we can input that

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into the system and that is adequate as

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well to be considered fully vaccinated .

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In order for us to help meet this

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requirement for active duty personnel .

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What the 21st Medical Group has planned

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are a series of point of distribution

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events . What does that really ? That

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means a mass vaccination line at our

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local fitness center . We have roughly

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eight of these planned for for first

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doses for for second doses over the

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coming weeks . So please keep your eyes

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open for those advertisements . If

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somebody just wants to on an individual

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basis , come and get a vaccine , we

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still have our steady state operation

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going within the 21st medical group

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itself and that is a self scheduled

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daily event where people can simply

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sign up and come in and get the vaccine

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at their convenience . The last point

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that I'd like to make regarding these

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vaccines relates to questions that we

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get a lot of which is How do I get an

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exemption if I don't want the vaccine .

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Now that it's been mandated , what do I

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do about that ? Well , there is a

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process and our legal community is

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still working on the guidance for

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commanders on how this will play out .

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Two types of exemptions are the most

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prominent that I can think of . One

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would be a medical exemption . For

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example , if someone has a history of

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adverse reactions to vaccinations ,

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perhaps they need to talk to a medical

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provider about whether or not getting

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the vaccine is really a good idea for

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them . The other type of exemption

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that's discussed a lot . Our religious

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exemptions , in which case this

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requires a review by not just the

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medical folks , but certainly by the

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chaplains and by the command as to

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whether or not somebody should be given

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an exemption based on some sort of

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religious status or religious concerns .

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Most of these exemptions must be

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approved at levels like the major

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command or Field command direct

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reporting unit and the like . So their

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approval for these is going to go up

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fairly high . Again , we don't have

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enough time in this segment to give you

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the full scope of the house and the

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Watts regarding these exemptions . But

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please no more guidance is coming . The

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first step . However , if you're

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interested in any of these exemptions

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is to talk to your chain of command for

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appropriate guidance . So , I hope

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those updates regarding the Covid

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vaccine mandate were helpful to you .

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If you're still wondering if when how

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to get the vaccine or if you're

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wondering about exemptions with that .

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That's all we have for this week's

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medical minutes . Thanks for joining us .

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Please stay healthy and we hope you'll

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tune in once again in the future