About six million enrolled Veterans use VA health care, and VA has successfully given at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to more than two million of those Veterans, with more getting vaccinated every day.
But there’s still more to do: VA will vaccinate every Veteran and spouse and caregiver.
In recognition of our success, Congress passed and the President signed the SAVE LIVES Act. This act gives VA the job of delivering vaccine to all Veterans in America – whether they’re enrolled in VA health care or not – as well as their spouses and their caregivers.
Within 48 hours after the President signed that bill, we began testing our existing vaccination delivery systems in order to determine how long it will take us to get about 30 million additional people enrolled and vaccinated. In two days of testing, we safely and successfully vaccinated 1,000 Veterans, spouses and caregivers who would not normally be eligible for a VA vaccination. That vaccination rate will only increase as we expand our capacity and take delivery of more and more doses of vaccine.
It’s a big job, but we can handle it
As we do that, I’d like to ask you for a bit of patience. It’s a huge task, but VA health care can handle it, as we have handled every new challenge during this pandemic. We just need a bit of time to make sure that Veterans, spouses and caregivers who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination can sign up and get vaccinated as quickly as possible.
Sign up to get vaccinated
Meanwhile, I urge every Veteran, spouse and caregiver to go to https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/ and sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine.
We will continue to update you as we move ahead. Thank you for trusting us with your care and with your vaccination.
Dr. Richard Stone is the acting secretary for health at the Veterans Health Administration. He is a retired Army major general and Veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He was born and raised in Michigan and is a proud alumnus of the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Topics in this story
More Stories
Ron Anderson's story of being caregiver for his father in his final years is a journey of love and duty.
Ignoring challenging emotions can negatively impact our health. Breathe through worry, anger and sadness in 5 minutes with this week's #LiveWholeHealth practice.
Gulf War Illness committee provides advice to the VA Secretary. Meetings can be attended in person or virtually.
My dads wife was able to get her appointment the very next day. Quick in and out. She was on the list for the county health dept and they hadn’t called her yet. Thank you! I have peace of mind now that they are safe.
Like everything else, this is a lie too, went with my wife ( got my second shot March 3rd.) Took to Manhattan VA and they said they weren’t set up yet, call back on Monday, , called all week , same BS , then they lowered the age to people under 30 while we waited and we had to call all over toying to get an appointment, finally she was able to go to a college to get vaccinated. More empty promises to Veterans.
Your article states that EVERY Veteran will be vaccinated and I myself am a disabled Veteran (I have already been vaccinated via my job) BUT when my husband (who also is a Marine Corps Veteran) called the Fargo VA they told him and that he needed to contact his doctor/medical facility to get the vaccine. Can someone explain why that would be when your article says different? Please and thank you
What type of vaccine do you have? When will household members 18+ become eligible??
What actions are being taken to vaccinated the veterans living oversees?
How do spouses sign up for the same timeframe?
Are the Covid-19 shots get what is there or can they be Veteran’s Choice…we are looking for Johnson and Johnson. The family of Michael W. Blum