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Veterans Experience Live (VetXL): COVID-19 Vaccine Q&A. Join on March 3rd to ask your questions
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Please adhere to RallyPoint Answers and Discussion Conduct: https://rly.pt/33ySsg0
Due to the anticipated interest in the topic, and the possibility for receiving large amounts of questions, please be patient as the subject matter experts (SMEs) from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Health & Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) work to respond to your questions. Unanswered questions will be disseminated to the SMEs and will be responded to shortly thereafter.
VA also has a COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions page here: http://rly.pt/VAcovidFAQ
Stay informed about getting the COVID-19 Vaccine here: COVID-19 vaccines: http://rly.pt/VAstayinformed
Ask questions to the following experts:
» Dr. Andrea Lerner, MD - Medical Officer, Office of the Director, NIAID, NIH
» Dr. Dr. Jane Kim, MD - Chief Consultant, Preventive Medicine, VA
» Dr. Sara Oliver, MD, MSPH, LCDR - U.S. Public Health Service, Vaccine Task Force, CDC
Access to critical Veteran COVID-19 Vaccine information:
» COVID-19 Vaccines for Veterans: https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
» Department of Veterans Affairs: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/n-coronavirus/
» CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/ index.html
» HHS National Institute of Health Research: https://covid19.nih.gov
NIAID conducts and supports research at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. NIAID scientists and grantees are working to rapidly develop COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. These projects include conducting basic research and developing animal models to understand how the virus infects cells and causes disease, and what interventions can prevent and stop the spread of disease, as well as clinical trials evaluating therapies and vaccine candidates.
About the National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NCP) https://www.prevention.va.gov provides leadership for Department of Veterans Affairs’ national COVID-19 vaccine planning and rollout across the country. NCP leads a multi-disciplinary team that coordinates the VA’s COVID-19 vaccine communication, allocation and distribution efforts.
NCP is a field-based national program of VA’s Office of Patient Care Services that
strives to improve the quality of life for Veterans. NCP provides health care resources
for Veterans (https://www.prevention.va.gov/For_Veterans_and_the_Public.asp) and the public relating to disease prevention and healthy living, including links to other VA and government resources. NCP provides VA clinicians with evidence-based clinician training (https://www.prevention.va.gov/For_Clinicians/), guidance, tools and resources including clinician fact sheets, patient handouts and VA- and government-wide resources to support the delivery of high-quality health promotion and disease prevention services.
NCP also produces publications including VHA Prevention Policies and Guides (https://www.prevention.va.gov/Publications/VHA_Prevention_Policies_and_Guidelines.asp), as well as its annual NCP Highlights (https://www.prevention.va.gov/Publications/) that summarizes NCP activities and accomplishments.
CDC is focused on getting Americans vaccinated and ending the COVID-19 pandemic. A strong, nationally coordinated approach is critical to ensuring ALL individuals who wish to receive vaccine can receive it. Veterans Affairs (VA) is one of five federal agencies receiving a direct allocation of vaccine from the federal government to vaccinate their frontline workforce and persons in their care. CDC has been assisting VA with planning for this direct allocation of vaccine to VA for staff and veterans by providing technical assistance to VA planners on vaccine prioritization, storage and handling, IT systems, administration and communications. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/
Team Up Against COVID-19! Register now to submit additional questions to be answered on March 4th by Dr. Fauci here: https://rly.pt/3snlqZn
Due to the anticipated interest in the topic, and the possibility for receiving large amounts of questions, please be patient as the subject matter experts (SMEs) from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Health & Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) work to respond to your questions. Unanswered questions will be disseminated to the SMEs and will be responded to shortly thereafter.
VA also has a COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions page here: http://rly.pt/VAcovidFAQ
Stay informed about getting the COVID-19 Vaccine here: COVID-19 vaccines: http://rly.pt/VAstayinformed
Ask questions to the following experts:
» Dr. Andrea Lerner, MD - Medical Officer, Office of the Director, NIAID, NIH
» Dr. Dr. Jane Kim, MD - Chief Consultant, Preventive Medicine, VA
» Dr. Sara Oliver, MD, MSPH, LCDR - U.S. Public Health Service, Vaccine Task Force, CDC
Access to critical Veteran COVID-19 Vaccine information:
» COVID-19 Vaccines for Veterans: https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
» Department of Veterans Affairs: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/n-coronavirus/
» CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/ index.html
» HHS National Institute of Health Research: https://covid19.nih.gov
NIAID conducts and supports research at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. NIAID scientists and grantees are working to rapidly develop COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. These projects include conducting basic research and developing animal models to understand how the virus infects cells and causes disease, and what interventions can prevent and stop the spread of disease, as well as clinical trials evaluating therapies and vaccine candidates.
About the National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NCP) https://www.prevention.va.gov provides leadership for Department of Veterans Affairs’ national COVID-19 vaccine planning and rollout across the country. NCP leads a multi-disciplinary team that coordinates the VA’s COVID-19 vaccine communication, allocation and distribution efforts.
NCP is a field-based national program of VA’s Office of Patient Care Services that
strives to improve the quality of life for Veterans. NCP provides health care resources
for Veterans (https://www.prevention.va.gov/For_Veterans_and_the_Public.asp) and the public relating to disease prevention and healthy living, including links to other VA and government resources. NCP provides VA clinicians with evidence-based clinician training (https://www.prevention.va.gov/For_Clinicians/), guidance, tools and resources including clinician fact sheets, patient handouts and VA- and government-wide resources to support the delivery of high-quality health promotion and disease prevention services.
NCP also produces publications including VHA Prevention Policies and Guides (https://www.prevention.va.gov/Publications/VHA_Prevention_Policies_and_Guidelines.asp), as well as its annual NCP Highlights (https://www.prevention.va.gov/Publications/) that summarizes NCP activities and accomplishments.
CDC is focused on getting Americans vaccinated and ending the COVID-19 pandemic. A strong, nationally coordinated approach is critical to ensuring ALL individuals who wish to receive vaccine can receive it. Veterans Affairs (VA) is one of five federal agencies receiving a direct allocation of vaccine from the federal government to vaccinate their frontline workforce and persons in their care. CDC has been assisting VA with planning for this direct allocation of vaccine to VA for staff and veterans by providing technical assistance to VA planners on vaccine prioritization, storage and handling, IT systems, administration and communications. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/
Team Up Against COVID-19! Register now to submit additional questions to be answered on March 4th by Dr. Fauci here: https://rly.pt/3snlqZn
Coronavirus COVID19
Health
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Responses: 53
When can I get my shot?
I'm 60 and live near Fresno.
How long do they think it last?
Is it effective against the variants?
I'm 60 and live near Fresno.
How long do they think it last?
Is it effective against the variants?
I 100% service connected disable , am 68 years old with underlying conditions , when can I get my virus shot at the VA
Dr. Jane Kim
VA is working diligently to vaccinate as many Veterans and employees as quickly as possible. VA believes it can most efficiently vaccinate the greatest numbers of our high-risk populations by allowing flexible decision-making at the local level.
If you have questions about how your personal risk for COVID-19 will determine when you can get a vaccine, send a secure message to your VA health care provider. You can also visit the COVID-19 vaccines at VA website where you can also sign up for VA’s Keep Me Informed tool for updates about VA’s COVID-19 vaccine plans.
While we are still in the limited supply phase, all facilities are continuing to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for vaccine distribution. Presently, VA facilities are vaccinating people in Phase 1a and 1b, moving to 1c when they have made good progress through the other phases:
• Phase 1a includes health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.
• Phase 1b includes people ages 75 years and older, frontline essential workers as defined by CDC and Veterans who are homeless, those who have a solid organ transplant, being treated with hemodialysis, receiving chemotherapy in a hospital or clinic setting and those with spinal cord injury and disorders.
• Phase 1c includes people ages 65-74, people age 16-64 with underlying medical conditions that increase risk for severe illness form COVID-19 and essential workers not in 1b, as defined by the CDC.
https://www.va.gov/health-care/secure-messaging/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/stay-informed
If you have questions about how your personal risk for COVID-19 will determine when you can get a vaccine, send a secure message to your VA health care provider. You can also visit the COVID-19 vaccines at VA website where you can also sign up for VA’s Keep Me Informed tool for updates about VA’s COVID-19 vaccine plans.
While we are still in the limited supply phase, all facilities are continuing to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for vaccine distribution. Presently, VA facilities are vaccinating people in Phase 1a and 1b, moving to 1c when they have made good progress through the other phases:
• Phase 1a includes health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.
• Phase 1b includes people ages 75 years and older, frontline essential workers as defined by CDC and Veterans who are homeless, those who have a solid organ transplant, being treated with hemodialysis, receiving chemotherapy in a hospital or clinic setting and those with spinal cord injury and disorders.
• Phase 1c includes people ages 65-74, people age 16-64 with underlying medical conditions that increase risk for severe illness form COVID-19 and essential workers not in 1b, as defined by the CDC.
https://www.va.gov/health-care/secure-messaging/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/stay-informed
VA secure messaging | Veterans Affairs
With VA secure messaging, you can communicate privately online with your VA health care team. Find out if you’re eligible to use secure messaging, and how to sign in to begin using this tool.
My question concerns the time it is taking to receive the vaccine. I am 69 and my wife is 70. She has already received her first shot. I have absolutely no idea when the vaccine will be available to me. Why is the VA behind the states in distributing the vaccine.
Dr. Jane Kim
VA is using full effort to vaccinate as many Veterans and employees as quickly as possible. VA believes it can most efficiently vaccinate the greatest numbers of our high-risk populations by allowing flexible decision-making at the local level. By encouraging local flexibility, VA can ensure that no vaccine is wasted as we work to vaccinate all eligible Veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated as quickly as possible.
While we are still in the limited supply phase, all facilities are continuing to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for vaccine distribution. Presently, VA facilities are vaccinating people in Phase 1a and 1b, moving to 1c when they have made good progress through the other phases:
• Phase 1a includes health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.
• Phase 1b includes people ages 75 years and older, frontline essential workers as defined by CDC and Veterans who are homeless, those who have a solid organ transplant, being treated with hemodialysis, receiving chemotherapy in a hospital or clinic setting and those with spinal cord injury and disorders.
• Phase 1c includes people ages 65-74, people age 16-64 with underlying medical conditions that increase risk for severe illness form COVID-19 and essential workers not in 1b, as defined by the CDC.
We hope you will find it reassuring that, as of March 2, 2021, VA had provided 1,612,592 vaccinations to Veterans, employees and federal partners and is ahead of the majority of states in the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered. We anticipate getting additional vaccine supplies in the coming weeks.
For more information, contact your care provider or visit the COVID-19 vaccines at VA website where you can also sign up for VA’s Keep Me Informed tool for updates about VA’s COVID-19 vaccine plans.
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/stay-informed
While we are still in the limited supply phase, all facilities are continuing to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for vaccine distribution. Presently, VA facilities are vaccinating people in Phase 1a and 1b, moving to 1c when they have made good progress through the other phases:
• Phase 1a includes health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.
• Phase 1b includes people ages 75 years and older, frontline essential workers as defined by CDC and Veterans who are homeless, those who have a solid organ transplant, being treated with hemodialysis, receiving chemotherapy in a hospital or clinic setting and those with spinal cord injury and disorders.
• Phase 1c includes people ages 65-74, people age 16-64 with underlying medical conditions that increase risk for severe illness form COVID-19 and essential workers not in 1b, as defined by the CDC.
We hope you will find it reassuring that, as of March 2, 2021, VA had provided 1,612,592 vaccinations to Veterans, employees and federal partners and is ahead of the majority of states in the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered. We anticipate getting additional vaccine supplies in the coming weeks.
For more information, contact your care provider or visit the COVID-19 vaccines at VA website where you can also sign up for VA’s Keep Me Informed tool for updates about VA’s COVID-19 vaccine plans.
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/stay-informed
COVID-19 vaccines at VA | Veterans Affairs
We're working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal partners to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Veterans and VA health care personnel. We know you have a lot of questions, and information is changing quickly. Please check back often for updates.
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VA is using every avenue to vaccinate as many Veterans and employees as quickly as possible. VA believes it can most efficiently vaccinate the greatest numbers of our high-risk populations by allowing flexible decision-making at the local level.
For more information, contact your care provider or visit the COVID-19 vaccines at VA website where you can also sign up for VA’s Keep Me Informed tool for updates about VA’s COVID-19 vaccine plans.
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/stay-informed
While we are still in the limited supply phase, all facilities are continuing to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for vaccine distribution. Presently, VA facilities are vaccinating people in Phase 1a and 1b, moving to 1c when they have made good progress through the other phases:
• Phase 1a includes health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.
• Phase 1b includes people ages 75 years and older, frontline essential workers as defined by CDC and Veterans who are homeless, those who have a solid organ transplant, being treated with hemodialysis, receiving chemotherapy in a hospital or clinic setting and those with spinal cord injury and disorders.
• Phase 1c includes people ages 65-74, people age 16-64 with underlying medical conditions that increase risk for severe illness form COVID-19 and essential workers not in 1b, as defined by the CDC.
How long do you think the vaccine will last?
We don’t know how long protection lasts for those who are vaccinated. What we do know is that COVID-19 has caused very serious illness and death for a lot of people. If you get COVID-19, you also risk giving it to loved ones who may get very sick Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer option.
Experts are working to learn more about both natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity. VA will share this information as new evidence becomes available.
Is it effective against the variant?
We are not sure to what degree the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines protect against the variants though there is some evidence that they will have some activity against new variants. Johnson and Johnson vaccine trials were conducted in countries where the variants present and suggest the vaccine protected people against the variants.
COVID-19 vaccines at VA | Veterans Affairs
We're working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal partners to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Veterans and VA health care personnel. We know you have a lot of questions, and information is changing quickly. Please check back often for updates.