Source: USDA APHIS, 2/17/21
Dear Stakeholders:President Biden recently
announced his goal of distributing 100 million COVID-19 vaccines to Americans
in the first 100 days of his Administration. The Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) is leading the vaccination effort, and APHIS has deployed 119
employees to assist in several states. We are fortunate to have many highly
skilled veterinary medical officers and animal health technicians who have the
proper training, experience, and certifications to help accomplish this
life-saving task, and we expect more deployments in the coming days. The majority of APHIS’ deployed employees are 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. In addition, 8 employees have deployed to Texas to provide resource management support for a vaccination site; 6 employees have virtually deployed to assist Washington State in planning vaccination efforts; 4 employees have virtually deployed to assist Oregon; and 9 employees have virtually deployed to support FEMA. APHIS is a proven
emergency-response Agency, and every employee who joins our ranks knows they
may one day be called upon to support our mission. We are honored that we can
contribute to this most vital of missions that will benefit every facet of
American life, including agriculture. At this time, the majority of employees
are deploying from our Animal Care and Veterinary Services programs, but we
also have some employees deploying from our 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. Most deployments are lasting 30 days, but we expect several rounds of deployments may be needed to help achieve the President’s goal. We 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. Sincerely, Mike Watson Acting Administrator
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