More than 3,000 veterans were surveyed between November 2019 and March 2020 — before COVID-19 had been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization — and again in November and December 2020 when the pandemic was in full swing.

The 88,675 square-foot clinic will provide primary care, mental health, female veterans care, physical therapy, dental and other services.

About 3% of veterans have refused coronavirus vaccines when offered them by the Department of Veterans Affairs – an amount lower than the agency anticipated, a VA official said Thursday.

The Saves Lives Act grew the population that the VA is responsible for vaccinating from about 9 million to 33 million. The department will need an increase of about 400,000 doses each week to vaccinate everyone.

The Saves Lives Act removes legal barriers that prevented the VA from vaccinating veterans who aren’t enrolled in the department, as well as their spouses and caregivers.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans are waiting for their earned benefits because of a backlog of compensation and pension exam requests that grew during the coronavirus pandemic.

Congress approved a bill Friday that makes all veterans, as well as their spouses and caregivers, eligible for a coronavirus vaccine through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

On a single night in January 2020, 37,252 veterans were experiencing homelessness — an increase of 167 veterans, or 0.4%, from January 2019, according to the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report released Thursday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

About $14.5 billion goes toward vaccine distribution, veterans’ health care, mental health care, staffing, suicide prevention, research and women’s health, as well as expanding telehealth, serving homeless veterans and stocking personal protective equipment.

The House has unanimously approved legislation that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer coronavirus vaccines to all veterans, regardless of whether they’re enrolled in VA health care.

Advocates pushed members of Congress on Tuesday to expand and make permanent a federal program to help veterans conceive through in vitro fertilization.

An effort is underway in Congress to mandate the Department of Veterans Affairs to vaccinate all U.S. veterans against the coronavirus, as well as their spouses and caregivers.

An early-morning delivery by charter plane of 52 vials of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine to Kalispell, Montana, was part of a vaccination program started by the VA to inoculate veterans in highly rural places. On Tuesday, the Montana VA Health Care System vaccinated 529 veterans there, most over age 75.

The investigation will dive into the role misinformation plays in drawing veterans toward extremist ideology and organizations, according to a statement from Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs committee.

The bill, titled the American Rescue Plan, totals $1.9 trillion and includes billions in relief aid for the VA. The VA secretary said the money was needed to treat veterans who have put off health care visits during the pandemic.

Virgil Lee Ward, a private who handled a flurry of telephone communications on the morning of the Dec. 7, 1941, died at his home in Grand Prairie, local Texas media reported Monday.

Black veterans who are eligible for coronavirus vaccines are accepting them at rates similar to veterans of other races, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Most state-run veterans homes publicly shared data about coronavirus cases and deaths for the first time this month, but not all are complying to the new law.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will review its policies and determine how to make the agency a more welcoming and inclusive place for LGBTQ veterans and employees.