St. Cloud V.A. Has Vaccinated More Than 9,000 [PODCAST]

St. Cloud V.A. Director of Pharmacy J.D. Anderson and St. Cloud V.A. Public Affairs Officer Barry Venable joined me on WJON today for our Voices for Veteran segment. Anderson says the St. Cloud V.A. has vaccinated more than 9,000 people with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine and that number includes health care workers and nearly 7,000 veterans. Anderson says they are still vaccinating veterans who are 75+ but expect to start vaccinating the next group which extends to 65+ next week. Listen to our coverage below.

The St. Cloud V.A. will notify veterans with a letter when they are eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccine and urge veterans to check their website and facebook page for updates on the vaccination rollout process. Anderson says approximately 66 percent of those offered the vaccine have taken it. He says some still plan to get the vaccine but turned down in the first offer. Anderson is happy with how the process has worked. He says the V.A. is getting their vaccines directly from the CDC and they've all be Moderna vaccines which don't required extreme cold temperatures for storage.

J.D. Anderson says when a veteran get their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine they schedule the 2nd dose 4 weeks later. He says they are administering 1st doses in the morning and 2nd doses in the afternoon. Barry Venable says Covid-19 still dictates how quickly they move back to what will become a "new normal".

Voices for Veterans airs the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 8:15 a.m. on WJON.