LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – About 200 soldiers have been deployed from Colorado to Los Angeles to help with the COVID-19 vaccine distribution at a new federally run vaccination site opening at Cal State University L.A. next week.
Soldiers board a plane headed to Los Angeles to assist with vaccine distribution. Feb. 11, 2021. (KRDO/CNN)
The soldiers were deployed from Fort Carson on Thursday, according to KRDO-TV. They include a combination of general and medical personnel from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
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“Just a week ago, nobody here knew anything about this mission and the families, there are families here, in the last five, six days they’ve all prepared themselves, personally. It’s not just about the soldiers professionally,” Lt. Col. Andy Olson, the task force manager, told KRDO.
The East L.A. site, slated to open Feb. 16, is one of two in California that are part of a White House program to establish 100 vaccination sites nationwide in the first 100 days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
“We’re very prepared,” Olson added. “I’m very proud of everyone here, a lot of medical folks, both medics and providers. And, all of them are absolutely professions.”
The sites will be co-managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES).
Meanwhile, the soldiers are all getting vaccinated before the Cal State site opens, KRDO reports.
