The State Department has received a limited number of coronavirus vaccines this week

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“While we would have preferred to vaccinate the entire staff of the Department at once, we will have to do so incrementally based on the availability of vaccines,” wrote Brian Bulatao, undersecretary of management of the State Department, in a note to the department that be reviewed by CNN. “We advise employees to continue to use facial, physical distance coatings and to follow guidelines issued through Diplomacy Strong and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

In addition to front-line medical personnel and U.S. personnel in Kabul, Baghdad and Mogadishu, Bulatao said, the department will initially “prioritize vaccination” of personnel supporting its 24/7 surveillance centers, critical operations, maintenance, custody personnel and mission critical diplomatic security personnel in the national capital region.

The news comes after the first doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered to the American public on Monday, after the US Food and Drug Administration authorized the innovative vaccine late last week. The initial batch focuses on health workers and residents of long-term care facilities, according to CDC recommendations, but some government officials should also be inoculated during the first rounds of the vaccine. .
Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday that he will receive a vaccine against Covid-19 in the “next few days,” while administration officials have debated how and when President Donald Trump could be vaccinated, but have not yet taken no decision on scheduling your shot to a person familiar with the plan. Biden’s transition team hopes to announce “soon” when President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will receive the Covid-19 vaccines, a transition official said.

Deputy Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Thomas McCaffery announced last week that the Pentagon was expected to receive “just under 44,000 doses” of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine earlier this week, with the first doses for medical staff and a select number of senior leaders.

Some have already been inoculated, with Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller receiving the vaccine Monday afternoon at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The Navy’s top admiral, Chief of Naval Operations Mike Gilday, on Tuesday encouraged sailors to take the vaccine, adding that he plans to receive it “soon.”

Tuesday’s State Department note said nothing about when Secretary Mike Pompeo and his closest advisers would be vaccinated. The State Department did not respond directly to a CNN investigation into when Pompeo will get the vaccine and whether it falls into the category of critical operations.

“The Department of Medical Services’ operational medicine and logistics experts are among the best in the world in performing complex missions, ”a department spokesman said in a statement. “They are planning and navigating major distribution challenges. Due to operational sensitivity, the Department does not publicly share specific details about the timing or logistics of the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine for the state workforce in this area. moment “.

U.S. personnel from Kabul, Baghdad and Mogadishu were chosen to be one of the first U.S. diplomats to get the vaccine “because of local conditions that may exacerbate the burden of the disease and the challenges of providing support services.” doctor in these locations, ”the note read. The note seemed to indicate that staff employed locally at these locations would not be recipients of this first tranche of vaccines.

The vaccines come from Operation Warp Speed ​​at the State Department.

“The department’s leadership continues to work with OWS and plans to deploy the COVID-19 vaccine to the broadest workforce as soon as it becomes available. We will continue to keep you updated as new information is shared with us,” he wrote. Bulatao.

CNN’s Ryan Browne, Barbara Starr, Kaitlan Collins and Maegan Vázquez contributed to this report.

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