Photo By Robert Sekula | Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, receives...... read more read more
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WIESBADEN, Germany -- Members of U.S. Army Europe and Africa senior staff, including Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commanding general; Maj. Gen. Joe Jarrard, acting deputy commanding general; and Command Sgt. Maj. Robert V. Abernethy received their first rounds of the COVID-19 vaccinations at the Wiesbaden Army Health Clinic yesterday.
“I want to be part of the solution,” Cavoli said, after receiving his shot. “I want to be part of protecting--not just myself--but my fellow soldiers and our family members from this disease.”
Army Sgt. Eron Johnson, a practical nursing specialist and the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Army Wiesbaden Clinic’s Immunization and Allergy section, was the Soldier who administered the vaccines to the group, and said he hopes that seeing leadership participate would help other Soldiers feel comfortable with volunteering to vaccinate.
“I’m super glad we get a lot of support from leadership,” Johnson said. “I hope it goes all the way down the chain.”
Abernethy explained that he believed it was natural for anyone to have concerns about the vaccine, but said that he felt comfortable with getting the shot after listening to medical experts.
“I personally have a whole lot of confidence in this shot and I get my confidence from watching my senior medical leaders take the shot themselves,” Abernethy said.
Regional Health Command Europe commanding general and U.S. Army Europe and Africa command surgeon Brig. Gen. Mark W. Thompson was present for the vaccination and emphasized his own faith in the vaccine’s efficiency and safety.
Thompson, a pediatrician who has already received the vaccination, explained that the COVID-19 vaccines that are approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration have gone through every step that any other vaccine would go through to be approved, despite its quick creation in response to the pandemic.
“This vaccine is probably the safest I’ve seen delivered to the public because of the rigor it underwent in terms of its evaluation,” Thompson said.
The first vaccinations of Department of Defense personnel in Europe began Dec. 28, at U.S. Army health clinics in Ansbach, Grafenwoehr and Vilseck, Germany. Clinics in Wiesbaden, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern followed suit just days later, and clinics in Benelux, Belgium, and Vicenza, Italy, began vaccinating in early January.
Army healthcare workers and first responders are prioritized as part of a DoD-wide vaccination distribution plan. However, Soldiers and other community members are encouraged to keep updated with any announcements from their local clinics or chain of command, so that they can vaccinate as soon as it is made available to them.
After he received his shot, Cavoli emphasized how critical the vaccination is to the overall U.S. Army Europe and Africa mission.
“We are not in our home country,” Cavoli said. “We are over here for specific reasons, to reassure our allies and to deter our potential adversaries. And the only way we can do that is if we’re ready…. And you can’t be ready if you’re sick.”
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.15.2021 11:15 |
| Story ID: | 387034 |
| Location: | WIESBADEN, HESSEN, DE |
| Web Views: | 577 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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