COLORADO SPRINGS — Vaccines are now being offered to healthcare workers and emergency services personnel on Fort Carson. The army post is the first military installation in Colorado to receive doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Evans Army Community Hospital is managing the administration of the vaccine to personnel beginning today.
According to the Department of Defense plan, the order of vaccinations will proceed as follows:
- Phase 1 - Healthcare providers, healthcare support, emergency services & public safety personnel
- substages cover 'critical national capabilities', personnel preparing to deploy overseas, other critical and essential support personnel
- Phase 2 - High-risk beneficiaries
- Phase 3 - Healthy population
While accepting the vaccine is not mandatory, the DoD states, "prioritized DoD personnel are highly encouraged to take the vaccine to protect their health, their families, their community, and lower the public health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic."
The plan does not mention Fort Carson as an initial distribution site for the Department of Defense. The locations listed are:
- Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, TX
- Willford Hall, Joint Base San Antonio, TX
- Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis McChord, WA
- Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC
- Navy Branch Health Clinic, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, FL
- Base Alameda Health Services (clinic), U.S. Coast Guard Base, Alameda, CA
- Naval Medical Center, San Diego, CA
- Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton, CA (distribution from San Diego)
- Naval Hospital Pensacola, Pensacola, FL
- Armed Forces Retirement Home, Gulfport MS (Keesler AFB will administer) (distribution from Pensacola)
- Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
- Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington, DC (distribution from Walter Reed)
- Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA
- U.S. Coast Guard Base Clinic, Portsmouth, VA (distribution from Portsmouth Naval Medical Center)
- Indiana National Guard, Franklin, IN
- New York National Guard Medical Command, Watervliet, NY
Initial vaccination sites outside of the continental United States (OCONUS) are:
- Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI
- Allgood Army Community Hospital, Camp Humphreys, Korea
- Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany
- Kadena Medical Facility, Kadena AB, Japan
