The Federal Emergency Management Agency is asking the Pentagon to help with President Joe Biden’s plan to increase COVID-19 vaccinations across the country in the next three months, several reports said Thursday.
The Department of Defense is examining, CNN reported.
“The department is evaluating the request and the types of support it can provide. Given the importance of the request, it will be reviewed urgently, but carefully to determine which DOD resources can be safely made available to support the effort,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
“As Secretary [of Defense Lloyd] Austin said DOD is committed to doing its utmost to help the whole government’s efforts against COVID-19, “he added.
Although the statement does not provide the number of soldiers that may be involved, an unnamed official told Reuters the number could reach thousands.
According to The Hill, possible solutions may include sending up to 10,000 active duty and National Guard forces to vaccination mega-centers.
Biden said on Monday that he set a goal to vaccinate 1.5 million people a day for the next few weeks.
“It will be a logistical challenge that goes beyond everything we have tried in this country, but I think we can do that,” said Biden during a news conference.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that the goal was aspirational, and White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt the next day said it would take “months” before everyone who wish for a vaccine to obtain it, The Hill reported.
In comments on Tuesday to CNN, Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, noted a number of obstacles the government faces in achieving its vaccination goals.
“It’s not just about vaccines,” he said, the media reported. “In some states… the problem is the lack of people to give vaccines. We are working to increase this capacity. In some states there are not enough seats. We announce the creation of federal vaccination centers. So, we need more vaccine, we need more vaccines, we need more places to give vaccines. We are working on these three things. “
© 2021 Newsmax. All rights reserved.