Aurora, CO, USA. April 14, 2020. Medical tents set up outside the entrance to the new VA medical center in Aurora, Colorado offering veterans drive-thru Covid-19 screening and testing. Drive through set ups like this may be part of an eventual vaccination rollout to accommodate large numbers of patients. Image: Jim Lambert/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe VA has said it expects that amounts of an approved Coronavirus vaccine will be limited at first and is putting together a priority distribution system for its employees and veterans, with an ultimate goal “to offer it to all Veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated.”
The VA is one of the federal departments or agencies in line to receive a direct allocation of one or more vaccines that ultimately are approved by the FDA, although there has been no indication of amounts.
In a blog post, the department said it is working with the CDC to “develop a phased plan based on five core ethical pillars: safety, maximizing the benefit of the vaccine, equity, fairness and transparency. The plan takes into consideration a number of risk factors, including risks of acquiring infection, severe illness and death if infected, and transmitting the disease, as well as the risk to essential workers, including health care personnel.”
“Initially, we expect supplies to be limited. Based on these risk factors, VA will offer the vaccine first to high-risk health care personnel, as they are essential in continuing to care for patients throughout the pandemic. As more vaccines become available, VA will offer the vaccine to high-risk veterans,” it said.
Medical centers conducted desk-top exercises in October to examine issues including how they would allocate available doses, scheduling, ordering, storage, handling and administration of inoculations.
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