World War II veteran Lee Elm Creel, 94, of Snow Town, Alabama gets his vaccine from Precious Reynolds, an RN at the Birmingham VA Medical Center in Alabam (Joe Songer/al.com)
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WASHINGTON — Veterans and health care workers will receive coronavirus vaccines this week at 128 more Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the country.
The department is readying doses of the Moderna vaccine, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized Friday for emergency use. Richard Stone, executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration, said the VA had ordered 122,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine ahead of its approval and prepared 200 sites to dispense it. The first 113 sites will start this week, the department announced Monday.
“Having a second COVID-19 vaccine will enable us to reach more facilities and vaccinate more health care personnel and veterans in additional parts of the country,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement.
The VA also announced that 15 more sites will receive doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, in addition to the 37 medical centers that began administering it last week.
The VA administered its first doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Dec. 13. The 37 hospitals are mostly in areas with high veteran populations, such as Washington, Dallas and Cleveland. Sites were chosen based on their ability to vaccinate large numbers of people, and most importantly, to store vaccines in extremely cold temperatures. The Pfizer vaccine must be frozen at 94 degrees below zero, a challenge for many hospitals across the country.
Of the 15 sites that will start administering the Pfizer vaccine this week, seven are in Florida.
The 113 sites chosen as the first sites to administer the Moderna vaccine include hospitals and community-based outpatient clinics across 47 states. The sites were chosen based on need, the VA said. All locations can store the vaccine at 4 degrees below zero — a much less stringent requirement, Stone said.
The department released its final plan last week detailing the order in which veterans and staff would receive a vaccine. The VA is undertaking a plan to distribute vaccines to more than 418,000 employees and any of the 10 million enrolled patients who want one. Stone predicted about 7 million veterans would want the vaccine.
As vaccines become more widely available, the department plans to reach out to eligible veterans and schedule their vaccinations.
Residents and staff of the VA’s long-term community living centers, as well as spinal cord injury centers, are among the first to be vaccinated. After the first vaccines are distributed, the VA will shift its focus to vaccinating VA employees who treat coronavirus patients. This includes emergency department staff and health care workers in coronavirus intensive care units.
After those phases of distribution, the VA will vaccinate veterans and staff living in other nursing facilities that don’t yet have access to vaccines.
Once it’s done with nursing homes, the VA plans to vaccinate health care workers who aren’t in coronavirus units, as well as other hospital employees, such as police, food services workers and administrative staff. All other VA essential workers, as well as homeless veterans, patients on dialysis, organ transplant patients and veterans undergoing chemotherapy are next on the list.
After that, the VA will start vaccinating patients based on their age, with those 85 and older going first. Veterans ages 50 and younger will be the last to receive a vaccine. During this phase of vaccinations, the VA plans to prioritize veterans who have high-risk conditions, such as cancer, obesity, diabetes or heart disease. Black, Hispanic and Native American veterans will also be prioritized. According to VA data, minority veterans are disproportionately affected by the virus.
The vaccines are becoming more available during a time of record-breaking cases and deaths nationwide.
However, the current coronavirus cases and deaths among VA patients was unknown Monday. A website where the department typically publicizes its data was undergoing maintenance and hasn’t been updated since Dec. 11. The agency did not respond to a request for updated data.
On Dec. 11, 17,757 VA patients were sick with the virus and 5,542 have died of it. Ninety VA employees have died.
wentling.nikki@stripes.com Twitter: @nikkiwentling
Sites administering the Moderna vaccineAlabama
Central Alabama (Montgomery) VA Health Care System
Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center
Alaska
Alaska (Anchorage) VA Health Care System
Arizona
Northern Arizona (Prescott) VA Health Care System
Southern Arizona (Tucson) VA Health Care System
Arkansas
Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks (Fayetteville)
Central Arkansas (North Little Rock) Veterans Health Care System
California
Central California (Fresno) VA Health Care System
Northern California (Mather) VA Health Care System
San Francisco VA Medical Center
Long Beach VA Health Care System
Loma Linda VA Health Care System
San Diego VA Health Care System
Colorado
Grand Junction VA Medical Center
Delaware
Wilmington VA Medical Center
Florida
Lee County VA Health Care Center
Jacksonville VA Outpatient Clinic
Sergeant Ernest I. “Boots” Thomas (Tallahassee) VA Outpatient Clinic
The Villages VA Outpatient Clinic
New Port Richey VA Outpatient Clinic
William V. Chappell, Jr. (Daytona Beach) VA Outpatient Clinic
William “Bill” Kling (Sunrise) VA Outpatient Clinic
South Hillsborough (Riverview) VA Outpatient Clinic
Viera VA Outpatient Clinic
Georgia
Atlanta VA Medical Center
Carl Vinson (Dublin) VA Medical Center
Hawaii
Pacific Islands (Honolulu) VA Health Care System
Idaho
Boise VA Medical Center
Illinois
Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (North Chicago)
Jesse Brown (Chicago) VA Medical Center
Iliana (Danville) VA Health Care System
Marion VA Medical Center
Indiana
Indianapolis VA Medical Center
Marion VA Medical Center
Iowa
Central Iowa (Des Moines) VA Health Care System
Iowa City VA Health Care System
Kansas
Dwight D. Eisenhower (Leavenworth) VA Medical Center
Colmery-O’Neil (Topeka) VA Medical Center
Robert J. Dole (Wichita) VA Medical Center
Kentucky
Louisville VA Medical Center
Louisiana
Alexandria (Pineville) VA Medical Center
Overton Brooks (Shreveport) VA Medical Center
Maine
Maine (Augusta) VA Health Care System
Massachusetts
Boston (Jamaica Plain) VA Health Care System
Northampton (Leeds) VA Medical Center
Michigan
Battle Creek VA Medical Center
Detroit VA Medical Center
Saginaw VA Medical Center
Iron Mountain VA Medical Center
Minnesota
St. Cloud VA Medical Center
Mississippi
G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery (Jackson) VA Medical Center
Gulf Coast (Biloxi) VA Health Care System
Missouri
Poplar Bluff VA Medical Center
Kansas City VA Medical Center
Montana
Montana (Fort Harrison) VA Health Care System
Nevada
Sierra Nevada (Reno) VA Health Care System
New Hampshire
Manchester VA Medical Center
New Jersey
Lyons VA Medical Center
New York
James J. Peters Bronx VA Medical Center
Canandaigua VA Medical Center
Syracuse VA Medical Center
Albany VA Medical Center
Castle Point (Wappingers Falls) VA Medical Center
Northport VA Medical Center
North Carolina
Asheville VA Medical Center
South Charlotte VA Health Care Center
Fayetteville VA Medical Center
Raeford Road (Fayetteville) VA Outpatient Clinic
Greenville VA Health Care Center
Kernersville VA Health Care Center
Wilmington VA Health Care Center
North Dakota
Fargo VA Medical Center
Ohio
Chillicothe VA Medical Center
Cincinnati VA Medical Center
Dayton VA Medical Center
Columbus VA Ambulatory Care Center
Oklahoma
Eastern Oklahoma (Muskogee) VA Health Care System
Oregon
Roseburg VA Health Care System
Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center & Clinics (White City)
Pennsylvania
Altoona VA Medical Center
Butler VA Medical Center
Coatesville VA Medical Center
Erie VA Medical Center
Lebanon VA Medical Center
Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center
Puerto Rico
Mayaguez VA Outpatient Clinic
Euripides Rubio (Ponce) VA Outpatient Clinic
Rhode Island
Providence VA Medical Center
South Carolina
Charleston VA Medical Center
Columbia VA Medical Center
South Dakota
Sioux Falls VA Medical Center
Black Hills (Fort Meade) VA Health Care System
Tennessee
Tennessee Valley (Murfreesboro) VA Health Care System
Mountain Home VA Health Care System
Texas
Amarillo (West Amarillo) VA Health Care System
West Texas (Big Spring) VA Health Care System
Central Texas (Temple) VA Health Care System
Texas Valley Coastal (Harlingen) VA Health Care System
El Paso VA Health Care System
Utah
Salt Lake City VA Health Care System
Vermont
White River Junction VA Medical Center
Virginia
Hampton VA Medical Center
Salem VA Medical Center
Washington
Spokane VA Medical Center
Walla Walla VA Medical Center
West Virginia
Beckley VA Medical Center
Clarksburg VA Medical Center
Huntington VA Medical Center
Martinsburg VA Medical Center
Wisconsin
Madison VA Hospital
Tomah VA Medical Center
Wyoming
Cheyenne VA Medical Center
Sheridan VA Medical Center
New sites administering the Pfizer vaccine:
California
Palo Alto (Livermore) VA Medical Center
Palo Alto (Menlo Park) VA Medical Center
Florida
Bay Pines VA Health Care System
Miami VA Health Care System
West Palm Beach VA Health Care System
James A. Haley (Tampa) Veterans Hospital
North Florida/South Georgia (Gainesville) Health Care System
Lake Baldwin (Orlando) VA Outpatient Clinic
Lake City VA Medical Center
Maryland
Perry Point VA Medical Center
Missouri
St. Louis (Jefferson Barracks) VA Health Care System
New York
New York Harbor (Brooklyn campus) Health Care System
North Carolina
Salisbury VA Medical Center
Texas
Kerrville VA Hospital
Washington
American Lake (Tacoma) VA Medical Center
