“The arrival of the Moderna vaccine paves the way for a phased vaccine distribution plan to protect our military communities overseas against COVID-19,” the release said. “Initial vaccinations will be limited to healthcare workers and first responders to assess the process and will be used to plan expanded distribution, where each service will request and administer the vaccine through a Defense Department-wide phased vaccination approach.”
The first inoculations took place on Thursday, the release said.
All US military personnel will continue to practice existing COVID-19 mitigation measures such as mask wearing, physical distancing and handwashing because a large but unknown portion of the population will need to be vaccinated before risk from the disease diminishes, the release added.