Charles George VA Medical Center - Asheville, NC
WNC VA Health Care System vaccinates 1,000 against COVID-19
December 31, 2020
WHAT TO KNOW: VA care teams will reach out to eligible Veterans to schedule vaccinations. There is no need to preregister or come to a facility to sign up. Veterans can get up-to-date information on VA’s COVID-19 vaccine webpage (https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/), and sign up to receive regular updates on the vaccine on the VA’s Stay Informed page.
ASHEVILLE, NC – The Western North Carolina VA Health Care System (WNCVAHCS) has now vaccinated 1,000 people – employees and Veterans – in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a little after noon on Dec. 31, Leslie Anderson, a Primary Care nurse at the Charles George VA Medical Center, became the 1,000th person to receive the vaccine. She said she did so for her family and our Veterans.
The Health Care System was among the second round of VA hospitals to receive a vaccine shipment which first arrived at the hospital in Asheville Dec. 22. The vaccine provided to WNCVAHCS is produced by Moderna and requires a series of two injections with the second shot given 28 days after the first.
“We’re one of 113 VA facilities receiving limited supplies of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine,” Amanda Graves, COVID-19 vaccine coordinator at Charles George VA Medical Center, said. “The Moderna vaccine was 94 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 based on the data presented to the FDA on Dec. 17.”
The shipment’s arrival met with much enthusiasm as staff had been preparing for it to arrive for months.
“We trained 30 people to provide the vaccine,” Graves said. “We started preparing for this back in October, and our staff has been anxious to get the vaccine as a way to protect their Veterans, coworkers, family and friends.”
Graves went on to say that of the 1,000 people who had received the vaccine, there have been no serious side effects or complications.
The first people at Charles George VA Medical Center to receive the vaccine were those at highest risk for contracting the virus.
That includes Veterans who reside in CGVAMC’s Community Living Center (CLC) and the frontline health care staff who are at highest risk of exposure.
Health Care System personnel will be taking the vaccine on the road to provide the shots to front-line staff at the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) in Hickory, Franklin and Rutherford County next week.
“As more of the vaccine becomes available for our Veterans, VA care teams will reach out to eligible Veterans to schedule vaccinations,” Graves said. “There is no need to preregister or come to a facility to sign up. Veterans can get up-to-date information on VA’s COVID-19 vaccine webpage, which launched on Dec. 11, 2020, and sign up to receive regular updates on the vaccine on the VA’s Stay Informed page.”
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