Pentagon Will Deploy Active Duty Troops To Support COVID-19 Vaccination Sites

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People wait for COVID-19 vaccinations in their vehicles at the Fairplex fairgrounds in Pomona, Calif., last month. The White House announced on Friday that active duty military personnel will soon be deployed to assist at vaccination sites, starting this month in California.

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Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

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The Department of Defense is expected to provide more details at a separate briefing on Friday afternoon.

The move is what Slavitt characterized as part of the Biden administration’s «whole of government» approach to combating the coronavirus pandemic, in which the vaccine plays a crucial role.

President Biden has pledged to distribute 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office. The U.S. is already meeting the target pace of 1 million doses a day, and Biden said recently he may up that to 1.5 million.

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The administration’s plans for ramping up the vaccine rollout include expanding eligibility criteria, increasing vaccine supply, hiring a vaccination workforce, launching a public education campaign and standing up more vaccination sites.

As part of that effort, Biden said FEMA would help set up 100 mass vaccination sites in his first month in office. FEMA has asked the Pentagon to ready up to 10,000 troops to support those sites, with the goal of dispensing 450,000 vaccinations a day nationwide.

Slavitt also announced at the briefing that the Biden administration is finalizing contracts with six more companies to increase the supply of at-home coronavirus tests.

• vaccination site
• coronavirus in the U.S.
• FEMA
• Department of Defense