U.S Troops Will Be Among the First to Get COVID-19 Vaccine

Senior White House officials reported that United States service members would be among the first Americans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after it has proven to be safe and effective .
Officials said the groups likely to receive the vaccine first include the most vulnerable people such as the elderly , patients with underlying health conditions , employees in essential businesses and the U.S. military.1 The Department of Defense ’ s Role in Operation Warp Speed Operation Warp Speed ( OWS ) under way at the federal level is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has a goal of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine by January 2021 .
Meeting that goal is part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development , manufacturing , and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines , therapeutics , and diagnostics.2 The U.S. military is playing a significant role in OWS .
General Gustave Perna is chief operating officer of OWS .
Army Lieutenant General Paul Ostrowski is leading the supply , production and distribution directorate , and Army Brigadier General Michael McCurry is leading the security assurance directorate .
In addition , 36 additional Department of Defense personnel are working on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Research ( WRAIR ) announced that it has selected a lead vaccine candidate among the many experimental COVID-19 vaccines that Army researchers have been working on since the beginning of the year .
They plan on testing leading candidate vaccines in human trials in late 2020.4 Brigadier General Michael J. Talley , the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command ( USMRDC ) said : In early May 2020 , the U.S. military banned the enlistment of any person who had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an applicant ’ s medical history of the disease during the screening.6 A memo by the United States Military Entrance Processing Command ( USMEPCOM ) posted on Military Times stated , “ During the prescreen process , a reported history of confirmed COVID-19 will be annotated as ‘ Considered Disqualifying ’ ” .7 People already enlisted in the military who were hospitalized with COVID-19 would not automatically be disqualified from further service .
Depending on the service member ’ s heath after treatment , they could return to duty or take a less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suffered severe complications that left them with continuing health problems would be evaluated by a medical board to determine if they can continue serving.8 Uproar Over Ban on U.S. Military Service After COVID-19 Infections Following the original memo by USMEPCOM and in response to public uproar , the Pentagon rescinded the policy that prevented recruits who had been infected with COVID-19 from enlisting or earning a military commission.9 Matthew P. Donovan , Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness said that he had canceled the guidance in favor of reverting back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ At the same time , we ’ re having our health professionals and our doctors and researchers take a look at that and come up with any recommendations that they ’ ll provide to me and the [ defense ] secretary , ” 10 He said a final decision is yet to be made .
In the meantime , the policy is to evaluate each recruit on a case-by-case basis.11 He added that , “ I agree that more research is needed to study the long-term effects of coronavirus on the human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think that the lack of research available warrants permanently disqualifying patriotic Americans from serving in the military.
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