COVID vaccine arrives in East Africa

Medical personnel with the Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF), Task Force Bayonet and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) surgeon cell from Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, administer the vaccine to Camp Simba, Kenya, March 18-20.

By Senior Airman Taylor Davis Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Djibouti Mar 22, 2021
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CAMP SIMBA, Kenya (March. 20, 2021)- Medical personnel with the Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF), Task Force Bayonet and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) surgeon cell from Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, arrived at Camp Simba, Kenya, March 17, 2021, to administer the vaccine March 18-20.


I was one of the first volunteers because of how dangerous it’s been to my community,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Brittany Alvarez, a security forces Airman with the 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron (EABS). “I want to do my part and help protect my family.

“Our objective is to vaccinate 252 people while we’re here,” said 1st Lt. Jenna Heller, the medical operations officer with Task Force Bayonet. “Then hopefully the popularity will build and eventually we’ll reach an ultimate goal of 100% vaccination at the camp.”

Receiving the vaccine is voluntary, but all DoD personnel are encouraged to get it to protect their health, their families and their community.

“I was one of the first volunteers because of how dangerous it’s been to my community,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Brittany Alvarez, a security forces Airman with the 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron (EABS). “I want to do my part and help protect my family.”

The team administered the COVID vaccine with the help of the 475th EABS medical team as part of a joint effort between Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF) and U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command (USAFE-AFAFRICA) under the direction of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

“The Janssen vaccine doesn’t need to be transferred frozen which makes it easy to work with in an austere environment,” said U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Quentin Denzel Foley, a preventive medicine technician with the EMF.

The end-goal is that the DoD is able to reduce the burden of COVID-19 in high-risk populations and simultaneously mitigate risk to military operations.

For more information about the vaccine, please visit the website below. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html

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