VA begins Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations on Oahu
COURTESY VA
Kim Hall, associate director of patient care services with the VA Pacific Islands Heath Care System, administers the first COVID-19 vaccine today to James Morgan, a 65-year-old Marine Corps veteran and a resident of Pacific Islands system’s Center for Aging.
The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System said it began COVID-19 Moderna vaccinations today in Honolulu.
The health care system “is eager to offer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to frontline health care personnel, residents of our Community Living Center and our inpatient facilities this week, followed by additional staff and veterans through December and January,” Dr. Adam Robinson, director of the system, said in a release.
About 55,000 veterans are registered with the VA in the Pacific, with about 47,000 of them in Hawaii.
“Receiving and providing this vaccine to our community of staff and veterans is our priority. As vaccine supplies increase, our ultimate goal is to offer COVID-19 vaccination to all veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated on Oahu and the neighbor islands,” Robinson said.
The VA Pacific Islands system said it is working closely with the departments of health in American Samoa, Guam and Saipan to ensure staff and veterans have access to vaccine. Vaccinations have begun in the three regions for VA staff and will begin soon for veterans at each site.
VA Pacific Islands Health Care System is one of 113 VA medical centers across the country to receive the first limited supply of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Sites were identified based on need for the vaccine according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s prioritization schedule and capacity to store the vaccine at minus 20 degrees Celsius. The vaccine is administered in two doses 28 days apart.
The VA said that as vaccines become available for more groups of veterans, “care teams” will reach out to eligible veterans to schedule vaccinations. There is no need to preregister or come to a facility to sign up.
