A large group of military veterans in San Diego County will be getting COVID-19 vaccinations Monday. NBC7’s Bridget Naso covers the military and has more on why it is so urgent.
According to the Veterans Affairs, COVID cases among veterans has doubled since November.
Some veterans are at a higher risk for COVID-19 because of their service, which is why getting these vaccines now is more important than ever.
More than 300 veterans live at the CALVet Chula Vista Veterans Home and those in the skilled nursing facility will be some of the first long term care patients to get vaccinated for COVID-19 this week.
CALVet tells NBC7 the vaccines will be administered by CVS Pharmacy onsite to both veterans and healthcare workers.
Veterans in the long term care facility in the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System got their first vaccines a couple of weeks ago.
NBC 7 recently spoke with the Director, who is also a medical doctor about the urgency of getting older veterans vaccinated.
We're seeing huge increases in the number of patients that are diagnosed with COVID-19 every day and in San Diego County and we're seeing similar numbers of veterans increasing increasingly being diagnosed with COVID-19," said Dr. Robert M. Smith.
Dr. Smith says many veterans who served in Vietnam, Korea, or World War II are vulnerable because of their age.
"Or have service-connected conditions from their time in service or exposure to agent orange that make them at higher risk for coronavirus," Dr. Smith said.
According to the VA of the veterans in their care nationwide, 180,000 veterans have contracted the virus and more than 7,200 who have died.
"I've seen veterans who have died as a result of COVID-19 infection we've seen staff die as a result of COVID-19 infection," Dr. Smith said.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, California has only used about 32% of the 2.1 million vaccines they have received.
And the state is encouraging counties like San Diego to offer vaccines to older people that unused by healthcare workers who decline to be vaccinated.
Veterans 85 and up, then 75 and up with pre-existing health conditions are next in line for the vaccines along with specified essential workers in Phase 1B of the state's plan.
"Our goal is going to be to reach out to them contact them based on the priority group as soon as we can offer them a vaccine," Dr. Smith said.
Both the VA and the Chula Vista Veterans Home have not announced when there next shipment of vaccines will arrive.
