APHIS Deploys Employees to Support COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts
President Joe Biden recently announced his goal of distributing 100 million COVID-19 vaccines to Americans in the first 100 days of his Administration. On Wednesday, USDA shared its plan to deploy 119 qualified personnel across several states to assist in the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The U.S. pork industry takes its role as an essential economic sector seriously and has made considerable investments to ensure the safety of its workers while maintaining its commitment to the nation’s food security. Of course, vaccination is the best defense against COVID-19 and we are grateful to the USDA for making personnel available to accelerate this national priority," National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Howard “A.V.” Roth, a pork producer from Wauzeka, Wis., said in a statement on Thursday.
The majority of APHIS’ deployed employees were assigned to Nevada and Oklahoma where they are helping to vaccinate people at a variety of rapid points of distribution including mobile teams and pop-up clinics, explained Mike Watson, acting administrator. In addition, eight employees were deployed to Texas to provide resource management support for a vaccination site; six employees have virtually deployed to assist Washington State in planning vaccination efforts; four employees have virtually deployed to assist Oregon; and nine employees have virtually deployed to support FEMA.
At this time, USDA said the majority of its employees are deploying from its Animal Care and Veterinary Services programs, but some employees are deploying from Biotechnology Regulatory Services, Emergency, Regulatory and Compliance Services, International Services, Marketing and Regulatory Programs Business Services, and Plant Protection and Quarantine programs.
"Please know we will make every effort to minimize service disruptions, and we ask for your patience when delays occur. We want to be upfront about this likelihood and make you aware we are taking steps to prioritize activities customers depend on, including endorsing health certificates, issuing permits and conducting inspections for new license applications," Watson said in an APHIS announcement.
Most deployments are lasting 30 days, but USDA expects several rounds of deployments may be needed to help achieve President Biden's goal. Watson said they will also be reaching out to USDA’s accredited veterinarians to seek additional volunteers who have the skills to help with this nationwide effort.
"Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have committed to meeting the needs of our customers while navigating the challenges of the pandemic and ensuring the safety of our employees. Nearly one year later, this continues to be our goal, and we hope that our efforts to vaccinate the public will help us all return to business as usual that much sooner," Watson said in the announcement.
On Wednesday, NPPC launched a campaign, "You're Essential, So It's Essential."
“U.S. pork producers, veterinarians, livestock haulers, harvest facility employees and other essential workers across the pork supply chain play a vital role in our nation’s food security and rural economies. Their safety is our number one priority and we know that getting vaccinated is the best defense against COVID-19,“ says Jim Monroe, NPPC assistant vice president, communications.
