In a February 17th release, USDA-APHIS announced that 119 employees had been deployed to assist several States to administer COVID vaccine.  This group includes veterinary medical officers and animal health technicians who have appropriate training, experience and certification.  Most of the APHIS deployments are to Nevada and Oklahoma working in mobile teams and pop-up clinics to address the needs of underserved communities.

APHIS is working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to achieve the goal of administering at least 100 million doses during the first 100-days of the Biden Administration.  Employees are deployed for 30-days and will be rotated.  USDA Accredited veterinarians and other volunteers may participate in the nationwide-effort.

The emergence of variants emphasizes the need to rapidly immunize the U.S. population since this will reduce the number of susceptible individuals that provide an opportunity for viral replication and inevitable mutation.