Initial COVID-19 Vaccine rollout held at NMRTC Bremerton
A stickler for protecting providers… Hospitalman Cierrajaye Santella, assigned to Naval Hospital Bremerton/Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Bremerton Preventive Medicine Department, provides the first Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Lt. Cmdr. Paul Flood, staff family physician at the command’s initial vaccination efforts, Dec. 23, 2020. NMRTC Bremerton initially received a limited quantity of COVID-19 vaccines for frontline healthcare personnel and emergency support services the day before and is following the Department of Defense's (DoD) phased, standardized, and coordinated approach to administering COVID-19 vaccines. The strategy was developed in collaboration with Operation Warp Speed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the DOD’s COVID Task Force assessment of unique mission requirements. NMRTC Bremerton leadership, in conjunction with DoD health officials and CDC guidance, continue to stress the need to wear appropriate face coverings, practice physical distancing, wash hands, and follow local and installation force health protection guidelines until a large proportion of the population is vaccinated and the vaccine is proven to provide long-term protection. Global and national public health authorities are expected to recommend that these steps continue for everyone until the pandemic risk of COVID-19 is substantially reduced (Official Navy photo by Douglas H Stutz, NHB/NMRTC Bremerton public affairs officer).
