Skip to main content

Military Health System

Test of Sitewide Banner

This is a test of the sitewide banner capability. In the case of an emergency, site visitors would be able to visit the news page for addition information.

Weed ACH moves one step closer to phase 2 of COVID vaccine plan

Image of soldier getting a vaccine in her left arm. Army Spc. Arielle Castro, a preventive medicine specialist with Weed Army Community Hospital receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine January 12. The Leominster, Massachusetts native said she chose to get the vaccine to protect her family. (Photo by Kimberly Hackbarth, Weed Army Community Hospital.)

The Weed Army Community Hospital at Ft. Irwin, California continues to vaccinate service members and civilians, and has begun giving the second round of doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

The start of the second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine brings Fort Irwin and the National Training Center one step closer to phase 2 of the population schema, which, according to the Department of Defense, is when healthy uniform personnel and TRICARE beneficiaries who did not meet the criteria for phase 1 can start to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

More and more individuals eligible under phase 1 continue to opt in to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, including those who previously had the disease.

Staff at Weed ACH diagnosed Army Sgt. Traevion Williams, a patient administration department clerk with Weed ACH, with COVID-19 in July 2020.

The San Bernardino, California, native said he first lost his sense of taste and smell, followed by a high fever and excruciating body aches from COVID-19, which played a part in his decision to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I didn’t want to have to deal with [those symptoms] again if I didn’t have to,” he said. “If taking the vaccine was going to limit the chance of feeling like that again, I would rather just take the vaccine.”

He also chose to get the COVID-19 vaccine because of his family, he said.

“My mom is a registered nurse, and she [got the COVID-19 vaccine], so that gave me more comfort to take it knowing she’s willingly taking the vaccine,” Williams said.

Army Spc. Arielle Castro, a preventive medicine specialist with Weed ACH, explained that she originally did not want to receive the vaccine, but changed her mind because of her family and her mother’s health.

“If I want to go back home and see my mother … I feel like everybody would feel better if I got [the COVID-19 vaccine],” said the Leominster, Massachusetts, native. “I wouldn’t mind enduring the two days after getting the vaccine with the side effects in order to be able to go home.”

Side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine differ from person to person, with the most common side effect experienced by those who have received the vaccine on Fort Irwin being arm soreness at the site of the injection.

Williams received his first of the two-dose sequence of the COVID-19 vaccine December 23 with the first wave of phase 1-eligible personnel and added that he experienced arm soreness and a minor headache.

Castro detailed how she experienced symptoms including fever, body aches and chills, which are considered as normal side effects according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Both Castro and Williams said the side effects went away in a few days.

Once all individuals who are eligible and opt in to receive the vaccine under phase 1 are vaccinated, Weed ACH will move to phase 2.

You also may be interested in...

Collaborating In the ER: Reservists Assist, Learn in Community Hospitals

Article Around MHS
10/20/2022
Military medical personnel in medical training session

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic–when there were no vaccines, a shortage of health care workers, and hospitals were beyond capacity– the U.S. health care system needed help. Here's one of many ways the Department of Defense answered the call.

Time to Get Your Flu Shot and Your COVID-19 Booster, Too

Article
10/14/2022
Senior MHS officials and medics from the Pentagon stand together Oct. 13 after receiving their flu shots and bivalent COVID-19 boosters.."

It's flu shot time. Get your COVID-19 booster at the same time.

Prevent the Spread of Influenza and COVID-19 Viruses Within Your Community

Article
10/11/2022
A person getting an injection on their arm.

As families return from summer vacation and students return to school, the influenza (flu) season is approaching while the COVID-19 pandemic is still on-going.

Ramstein Now Offers Novavax Vaccine

Article Around MHS
9/8/2022
Military medical gives Soldier a COVID-19 vaccine

The 86th Medical Group is now offering the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which has been authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to members 18 years and older in the Kaiserslautern Military Community.

Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Now Available for 12 to 17 Year-Olds

Article
8/30/2022
Air Force Staff. Sgt. fills a syringe with a COVID-19 vaccine at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine is Available for Those 12 Years' Old and Above

New COVID-19 Boosters Against Subvariants Coming Soon

Article
8/29/2022
Marine on right gets a COVID-19 booster vaccination from a nursing student on his left.

Brooklyn Marine gets COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Consolidated Department of Defense Coronavirus Disease 2019 Force Health Protection Guidance

Policy

Consolidates and updates the Department’s guidance regarding vaccination verification, vaccination status, COVID-19 testing, surveillance and screening testing, personnel protection on-site mask requirements, (e.g., DHA military medical treatment facilities, meetings, travel), and the protection of personally identifiable information.

  • Identification #: 22-006
  • Date: 8/18/2022
  • Type: Memorandums
  • Topics: COVID-19

Learn the Most Recent Age Requirements for COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters

Article
8/10/2022
A man fist bumps a child.

The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to get your vaccines and booster shots.

Telemedicine Privilege by Proxy Expands Access to MHS Care

Article
8/10/2022
Infographic featuring Lt Col Legault

MHS has Telemedicine Privilege by Proxy: A fast, efficient process that enables providers to file one application and get permission to virtually treat patients anywhere in the MHS.

Whole Health System Approach to Long COVID

Publication
8/1/2022

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration is leading an effort to equip health care providers with a Veteran-centered Whole Health System approach to caring for Veterans with Long COVID, also known as post-COVID-19 conditions.

DHA-IPM 20-004: Department of Defense (DOD) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program Implementation

Policy

Establishes the Defense Health Agency’s procedures to implement instructions, assign responsibilities, and prescribe procedures for the DHA’s implementation of the DOD’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program.

  • Identification #: DHA-IPM 20-004
  • Date: 6/16/2022
  • Type: DHA Interim Procedures Memorandum
  • Topics: COVID-19

Future of Nursing: Telehealth, More Innovation and Maybe Some Robots

Article
5/13/2022
Second Lt. Nina Hoskins, 81st Surgical Operations Squadron operating room nurse, briefs Col. Debra Lovette, 81st Training Wing commander, and other base leadership on robotics surgery capabilities inside the robotics surgery clinic at the Keesler Medical Center June 16, 2017. (Photo: Kemberly Groue, U.S. Air Force)

The future of nursing is here due in part to changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

How One Military Nurse Persevered Through the COVID-19 Response

Article
5/5/2022
Air Force Capt. Courtney Ebeling, a medical-surgical nurse at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Family Health Clinic, Texas, was deployed to support the COVID-19 response in Afghanistan in 2021. They administered vaccinations to U.S. citizens, service members, and foreign military members as well as supported the preparation to withdraw from the country. (Photo: Courtesy of Air Force Capt. Courtney Ebeling)

Nurses across the Military Health System have played a vital role in providing routine patient care and meeting the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘I Love the Intensity’ – One Nurse Recalls Three COVID-19 Deployments

Article
5/5/2022
In 2020, Air Force 1st Lt. Tiffany Parra, an ICU nurse at the 633rd Medical Group, on Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, was deployed to a North Dakota hospital to support a FEMA COVID-19 mission. In the photo, she trains on equipment used for critical patients in a North Dakota ICU. (Photo: Courtesy of Air Force 1st Lt. Tiffany Parra)

Nurses are unique, they follow a calling to care for others. Military nurses do that as well as serve their nation. For Nurses Week, the MHS highlights some of their own.

Pandemic Spotlights the Vital Role of Military Lab Workers

Article
5/2/2022
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ashley Solomon, 18th Medical Support Squadron NCO in charge of microbiology, unloads blood samples from a centrifuge at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Jan. 31, 2019. (Photo: Tech. Sgt. Matthew B. Fredericks, U.S. Air Force)

MHS clinical labs produce results.

Page 2 of 23 , showing items 16 - 30
First < 1 2 3 4 5  ... > Last 
Refine your search
Last Updated: May 04, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery