Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Pietrantoni | U.S. Army Sgt. Tyler Kelfant, assigned to Joint Task Force COVID-19, New York National...... read more read more
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WATERVLIET, N.Y. – Nine hundred and seventy-five New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen were vaccinated against COVID-19 from Dec. 17-20 as part of a Department of Defense pilot program which took place at 16 locations worldwide.
Priority for the vaccine went to Army and Air Guard healthcare providers and personnel assigned to the COVID-19 response task force.
Soldiers and Airmen received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill and Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse.
The vaccines were all administered within 96 hours after being received at New York Army National Guard Medical Command headquarters at the Watervliet Arsenal on Dec. 16.
Soldiers and Airmen who received the vaccine will get a second dose after 21 days.
The Pfizer vaccine provides 95 percent effectiveness against contracting or spreading the Coronavirus after its second dose, according to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) health officials.
But going from manufacturer into service members arms can be a tremendous effort, explained Staff Sgt. John Gamalski, the non-commissioned officer in charge at the Camp Smith vaccination site.
The Pfizer vaccine requires unique storage requirements, including the very low temperature of -94 degrees Fahrenheit during travel and storage in a specially designed shipping container, or shipper. The vaccine is delivered on dry ice and remains stable for about five days.
“It’s an extremely logistically heavy lift for a vaccine like this,” Gamalski said. “That shipper can’t be opened more than two times a day for more than a minute at a time. Once it’s reconstituted, it is only good for six hours from that point.”
The challenge was reconstituting the vaccine while readying medical staff and hundreds of recipients all at once.
“We have to make sure we have seats filled with Soldiers and Airmen ready to go to administer it,” he said.
At the same time the first of 17,000 New York National Guard troops were getting vaccinated, another 170,000 doses of the vaccine were being provided to healthcare workers and nursing home residents and staff across New York.
The Department of Defense (DoD) limited distribution of 44,000 vaccines arrived at 10 military treatment facilities in the United States, four overseas treatment sites and two National Guard states – New York and Indiana.
The DoD COVID Task Force selected New York for initial distribution based on its population of at least 1,000 priority military personnel and the Medical Command’s available personnel to administer vaccines and then monitor vaccine recipients.
Staff from the New York Army National Guard Medical Command led the effort to implement the vaccination of 975 personnel, all volunteers to receive the vaccine.
Since the vaccine is approved for emergency use by the FDA, it can only be offered on a voluntary basis, explained Army National Guard Maj. Keith Casserly, the Medcom unit commander.
The New York National Guard currently has 1,500 personnel assigned to COVID response duties. These range from drive through testing to medical supply warehousing to traveler advisory support missions at airports to packing COVID test kits.
The headquarters of the response force, led by Army National Guard Lt. Col. Aaron Lefton, collected rosters of volunteers and arranged for individuals to receive their vaccines at the two consolidated sites.
For Guardsmen and women on duty since the first cluster of Coronavirus in March, the vaccination effort marked a distinct change in the state response, medical personnel said.
"Many of us were some of the first service members in the nation on the front lines of the worst of the worst pandemic of the last 100 years,” said Maj. Stephen Carson, a physician assistant and medical standards officer with the New York Medical Command.
“For nearly a year all we could do is fight defense ... now we are again among the first in the nation. Now we have the initiative. Now we are be able to take this fight to the enemy,” Carson added
Even for a vaccine given under an Emergency Use Authorization, the data behind its development gives confidence for its use, Gamalski said.
“I think it’s important to realize that these things have gone through clinical trials, even though it is an Emergency Use Authorization, there is the data and the evidence-based medicine showing, that at this point, on the people who’ve received it, it is safe enough to give to our Soldiers and make sure that they are healthy and protect those around them and make everyone around them healthier,” Gamalski said.
“The more people are allowed to do that, on the military and civilian side, I think will make for a healthier and safer state,” he added.
The COVID-19 vaccinations in Syracuse were administered medical personnel, from the 105th Airlift Wing, 174th and 107th Attack Wing Medical Groups , along with the Army Guard Medcom.
“I feel honored, quite frankly,” said Air Guard Senior Master Sgt. Donald Trzepacz, assigned to the 107th Medical Group at Niagara Falls, N.Y., who helped vaccinate 400 personnel. “With 22 years in the military, to be part of this initial inoculation team is quite an honor.”
The Defense Department expects to apply lessons from this initial distribution to the full rollout across the entire military in 2021.
“The medical operation was one of the best operations I have been part of in my entire career,” Casserly said.
“I am personally most proud how quickly a joint team was formed and how efficiently we were able to execute the mission we were given,” Casserly said.
“We all worked relentlessly and without break ever since the State Surgeon, Col. (William) Lecates, accepted this mission. This was an historic event for the nation (and) was carried out with military precision that the entire military force should be proud of,” he said.
The DoD highly encourages all service members to take the vaccine to protect their health, their families, their community, and lower the public health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Casserly said.
“I think it’s extremely important for our Soldiers and Airmen to get this vaccine,” Gamalski said, “just based on the nature that they are out in these communities working on these warehouse missions, working at testing sites, administering these tests. They’re exposing themselves.”
“By them receiving the vaccine, it takes that extra step to protect them and the healthcare workers around them,” he said, “making them safer for everyone around them. It protects everyone they come in contact with.”
The most common adverse effects for some recipients are common for most other vaccinations, including pain at the site of injection, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, and fever.
“This is a step in the right direction, without a doubt,” Gamalski said. “It is a step towards reaching our new normal, being comfortable going out, spending time with family for holidays, giving that sense of confidence and safety is what’s important here.”
For the Medical Command, Casserly says the accomplishment in a brief timeframe was exceptional in forming the team and getting shots into arms.
“The next challenge will be vaccinating the rest of the force,” Casserly said.
| Date Taken: | 12.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.21.2020 13:07 |
| Story ID: | 385512 |
| Location: | WATERVLIET, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 256 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, NY National Guard Begins Initial COVID-19 Vaccinations, by Richard Goldenberg, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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