Posted on 03/25/2021 5:41:22 PM PDT by Sparky1776
President Joe Biden signed the SAVE LIVES Act into law today, expanding VA’s legal authority to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all Veterans, regardless of their VA health care enrollment status, as well as Veteran spouses, caregivers and some beneficiaries.
The SAVE LIVES Act removed some of the legal limits on the medical care VA can provide to Veterans, based on health care eligibility and priority groups.
The expanded authority depends on readily available COVID-19 vaccine supply and requires VA to continue to prioritize vaccinations and healthcare delivery for our nation’s Veterans enrolled in VA care.
“The SAVE LIVES Act increases the number of individuals who are eligible to get lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines from VA from 9.5 million to more than 33 million,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Meeting the task of vaccinating this expanded population will be a tremendous undertaking for the VA and will require a significant increase in our allocation of vaccine supply, but I am confident that VA’s workforce is up to the task.”
VA is providing COVID-19 vaccinations to Veterans and employees per its COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. As of March 24, VA has fully vaccinated 1,594,812 individuals, including Veterans, VA employees and federal partners.
The next steps in VA’s prioritized expansion efforts are to offer the vaccine to all enrolled Veterans – approximately 9.5 million – followed by those outlined in the bill, as vaccine supply permits:
Non-enrolled Veterans as defined in the new legislation, including those without service-connected disabilities and who have incomes above VA’s threshold. Overseas Veterans who rely on the Foreign Medical Program. Veteran caregivers who are enrolled in either the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers or the Program of General Caregiver Support Services. Veteran caregivers enrolled in certain Geriatrics and Extended Care Programs, such as Veteran Directed Care, Bowel and Bladder, Home Based Primary Care and VA’s Medical Foster Home Program. Civilian Health and Medical Programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs recipients. Veteran spouses. In March and April 2021, VA will conduct pilots of COVID-19 vaccination for individuals specified in HR1276 at select VA medical centers. These pilots will work through critical steps in the process including communications, operations including space and staffing, systems for registration, enrollment, and scheduling, documentation, and data transmission.
VA currently receives approximately 200,000 first, or single doses, of COVID-19 vaccine each week. VA estimates that it will need a minimum of 300,000 first or single doses of COVID-19 vaccine weekly to offer COVID-19 vaccination to an additional three million Veterans who are enrolled but not currently using VA health care. VA estimates that it will need approximately 600,000 first, or single doses, of COVID-19 vaccine each week to further expand vaccination to all individuals outlined in HR1276. First or single dose supply is the best indicator of VA’s capacity to offer expanded COVID-19 vaccination.
Interested Veterans, their caregivers and Veteran spouses who qualify under the legislation can click here to get more information about COVID-19 vaccines at VA. Updates will be provided regarding the availability of vaccine supply and other resources.
Pinging Military Vets about: SAVE LIVES Act allows VA to soon provide COVID-19 vaccinations to all Veterans, their spouses and caregivers
My SIL is a VA nurse and said she already got hers thru work weeks ago.
Here is the URL for “click here” in the final paragraph:
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
BeauBo for your info.
Probably the only thing he gets right during his presidency.
This Veteran says, “Thanks, but no thanks. “
This was already in the chute under President Trump.
I’ve been getting calls and texts, etc. for weeks, already.
I’m going to pass, too. I’m 60, no other medical issues. Give the shots to the Vets that served before me and have more problems than I do.
Also, I don’t trust it. In the few short years I’ve used the VA for my medical care, it appears to me that they are LOOKING for me to have problems where none exist. Again, no thanks! When you can prove to me that EVERY TAX DOLLAR is allocated properly, then I’ll let you experiment on me for a flu bug that is 98.999% survivable.
Well, again, probably NOT, LOL!
I’m a vet and I contacted the VA about a month ago to see what was up. The doctor seemed nonplussed about getting me the COVID treatment, but- did interview me in a teleconference, reinstituted my prescriptions, arranged for me to undergo an EKG, stress test, and an echocardiogram. Also, arranged for tetanus and flu shots, and a stool screening. Scheduled a second teleconference for Nov. 30th as well.
No COVID treatment though, so I went online last Sunday afternoon and found an opening for the next morning at a Fry’s grocery store. The exercise from start to finish was about 18 hours to completion. I was kind of bowled over by the simplicity.
The point to my post is to report that the VA has stepped up their game and is delivering better care than at any time previously in interacting with me.
FWIW- I’m in the metro Phoenix area.
State of FL is opening the vaccine up April 5th to all adults. Anybody who wants a vaccine will have it very soon.
Bo, thanks to GreyFriar for this site for Vets.
https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
Apparently this will work vets like myself if I needed the shots and not a VA patient and our spouses and care givers.
COVID-19 vaccines at VA:
We’re working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal partners to provide COVID-19 vaccines to eligible Veterans, spouses, and caregivers. We know you have a lot of questions, and information is changing quickly. Please check back often for updates. We’ll continue to update this page as we have new information to offer.
I'll wait a year and see how folks do.
Thanks Dave - I signed right up. Let’s see if they call.
I expect things will open way up through April, as the remaining crowd of of those 65 or older still needing a first shot thins out.
Thanks! Took them long enough, though.
Same with this veteran
I’m enrolled in the VA Healthcare System, but here in central South Carolina the vaccine was offered to the public in general before it was to the veterans (what the justification for that was I do not know). While waiting for the VA, I heard from my non-veteran sister that anyone over 70 could get it just by showing an ID. That was back in January. So I got the vaccine from the drive-through program being offered by a private hospital, and then in February had the second shot.
No way I’ll take any of those currently available.
Apparently if you have received your first shot, you have to go back to that site for your second shot.
We just got this back from a relative whose husband is a vet and is eligible for both shots.
“Yes, the VA sent that to us, too. Unfortunately, for me it’s too late. I have to get my 2nd shot where I got my first.”
Cali Vaccination Cheaters??????
Earlier this month, California opened up vaccine eligibility to include people with developmental disabilities and those with a list of serious health conditions including chronic pulmonary disease with oxygen dependence and cancer. Since then, some residents said they’ve seen others without those conditions get in line for a shot as well, knowing that vaccination sites are operating on a so-called “honor system” and won’t require medical documentation.
Dr. Louise Aronson, a leading geriatrician at University of California, San Francisco and member of the governor’s vaccine drafting guidelines committee, said in a recent interview that she knows of too many people who have received the vaccine when they don’t qualify. She said she has heard of people claiming eligible occupations at pharmacies that don’t verify and of a worker at a mass vaccination site in the East Bay Area holding back doses for friends.
Part of the problem has been the lack of uniformity from county to county, which makes people believe the standards put in place are arbitrary, she said.
“There are a whole lot of cheaters, and this is just my anecdotal experience,” she said.
https://apnews.com/article/california-vaccinate-16-older-in-3-weeks-3e33679ef4514fe6b7ebaf35c96aebb6
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