Indiana National Guard soldiers and airmen lined up, one after another, to get shots that could protect them from COVID-19.
For months now, they’ve been on the frontlines — essentially — helping in the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic per Gov. Eric Holcomb’s orders. On Wednesday, they received the first COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed in Johnson County.
Troops from around the state reported to the Johnson County National Guard Armory in Franklin to take some of the first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines apportioned to state military personnel in the country.
The U.S. Department of Defense chose Indiana and New York as pilot states to develop a process for widespread national guard vaccinations, said Col. Lisa Snyder, state air surgeon.
About 200 who work on the frontlines of the state’s coronavirus response received the first vaccines, with more vaccine clinics planned the rest of this week, Snyder said.
“Indiana is on the forefront, which we are very proud of,” she said. “We have a lot of soldiers and airmen that are in the long-term care facilities, working in food banks, warehouses and all sorts of different places across our communities where we serve and work.”
More than 2,300 Hoosier guardsmen were called on to fight the coronavirus pandemic since March. Right now, about 1,300 are assisting in long-term care facilities throughout the state.
The guard has worked in each of Indiana’s 92 counties to distribute more than 1 million gowns, 1.2 million face shields, more than 4 million respirators, more than 5.5 million masks and more than 6.3 million gloves. At food banks, the guard has served 3.5 million Hoosiers and helped distribute about 34 million meals.
It was the extensive nature of the guard’s mission to fight coronavirus that prompted the defense department to choose Indiana for this mission, said Col. Michael Jones, state army surgeon.
“Indiana was chosen among the other national guard states because we have one of the largest numbers that remain on active duty orders in response to COVID,” Jones said.
Guardsmen are again helping out by vaccinating their peers. All vaccines being administered at the Franklin clinic are being given by guardsmen who completed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention courses specific to the coronavirus, including administering the COVID-19 vaccination, Snyder said.
“They have stepped up and they do want to be a part of being able to stop the pandemic, being able to control it,” she said. “We have had a great response, and honestly, as surgeons, we would never doubt.”
<em>Read more of this story in Thursday’s Daily Journal. </em>
