COVID Vaccines for Veterans

FROM VA BOSTON HEALTHCARE

On Monday, December 21, 2020, we received our first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and began offering it to VA Staff and Veterans of our Community Living Center and Spinal Cord Injury units. We have continued to offer the vaccine to inpatients and staff who are at the highest risk of getting or spreading the coronavirus, or of becoming severely ill from COVID- 19. We plan to offer the vaccine to all Veterans who receive care at VA Boston and are following national guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and VA on the criteria and order of vaccine delivery. Patients who are health care workers, or first responders, should proceed with vaccination as soon as it is offered by their employer, but also are eligible to receive it as a patient in our healthcare system based on the schedule and criteria below.

By mid-January we will offer the vaccine to outpatients, beginning with our Brockton Campus on January 5th followed by our Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury Campuses the week of January 11th. The first outpatients to receive the Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine will be patients with high-risk medical conditions such as undergoing dialysis, chemotherapy, transplant treatment as well as homeless veterans and those in congregate living situations. Vaccinations will be given by appointment only.

In the coming weeks and months thereafter, we will receive more shipments of the vaccine and give it to outpatient Veterans based on the criteria established by the CDC. We will move as aggressively as possible to vaccinate VA Boston Veterans in line with the CDC’s phased plan for providing vaccines. Our projected timetable depending on vaccine availability is:


TARGET GROUP

(Veterans enrolled at VA Boston)

PROJECTED DATE

(Dates may change depending on vaccine availability)

 

 

Residents of VA Boston’s Community Living Center or Spinal Cord Injury Unit

Completed December 2020

High-risk Veterans who have dialysis, chemotherapy, transplant or live in congregate living situations or are homeless

January 2021

Veterans age 85+

February 2021

Veterans age 75+

March 2021

Veterans age 65+

April 2021

Veterans age 50+

May 2021

Veterans aged 50 and younger

June 2021


 

  •  VA Boston will call each Veteran in order of priority to offer a vaccine appointment. 
  • Once the vaccine has been offered to all Veterans in an age group, we will move on to call the next group. 
  • Appointments are required and there will not be walk-in hours.
  • Our staff can’t provide vaccines to anyone who isn’t eligible for VA care at this time. 
  • If you would like to enrol in VA healthcare, please call  1-877-222-VETS (8387).
  • For more information visit: https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/.