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        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Airmen showcase COVID-19 Community Vaccination Center mission during Acting SecAF visitAirmen showcase COVID-19 Community Vaccination Center mission during Acting SecAF visit
                        
                        
                        Airmen brief Acting Secretary of the Air Force John P. Roth about the Tampa Community Vaccination Center process in Tampa, Fla., April 16, 2021. Roth visited the CVC to show support for all the personnel running and supporting the vaccination response. U.S. Northern Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing continued, flexible Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the whole-of-government response to COVID-19. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christian Sullivan)
                
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        Airmen showcase COVID-19 Community Vaccination Center mission during Acting SecAF visitAirmen showcase COVID-19 Community Vaccination Center mission during Acting SecAF visit
                        
                        
                        Maj. Leon Mapp, assigned to the 45th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, briefs Acting Secretary of the Air Force John P. Roth at the Community Vaccination Center in Tampa, Fla., April 16, 2021. Roth visited the CVC to show support for all the personnel running and supporting the vaccination response. U.S. Northern Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing continued, flexible Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the whole-of-government response to COVID-19. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christian)
                
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Roth praises Air Force contributions to mass vaccination center in Florida, others nationwidePublished April 20, 2021
                    
                    By Charles Pope
                    
                    
                    Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
            **TAMPA, Fla. (AFNS) --**Acting Secretary of the Air Force **John P. Roth** travelled to Florida April 16, to tour an efficiently-run tent city and **COVID-19** mass vaccination **operation**.
The vaccination facility, which is designed to administer 3,000 shots a day (though it hit 5,636 shots in a single day earlier this month), is under the control of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of Florida. However, a staff of 139 active duty Airmen from 25 bases across 22 states make up the operational engine providing vaccinations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.
The Tampa facility, which began offering COVID-19 vaccinations March 3, is one of four, large-scale vaccination centers in the state and one of 171 centers nationwide supported by federal personnel. (There are 440 community vaccination centers in all nationwide that receive some mixture of personnel, supplies and funding from the federal government.)
“COVID vaccines are the cornerstone for the nation and for us as the Department of the Air Force to get past this crisis,” Roth said during the visit, calling the coronavirus pandemic “the existential crisis to the nation right now.”
“I’ve been a proselytizer as I’ve gone around to 13 bases the last couple of months, encouraging Airmen and Guardians to get vaccinated. Getting shots in arms is an important step in the right direction,” he said.
The same is true for the public and the nation as a whole.
With the number of COVID-19 cases spiking in some parts of the country and with new coronavirus variants becoming more widespread, the White House is pushing hard to vaccinate people as a principle defense against the disease.
In that respect, Roth said it makes sense for the Air Force to “bring to bear capabilities” to help in the effort. In addition to the 139 Airmen deployed to Tampa that includes a physician, pharmacy personnel, nurses and a wide range of other personnel from non-medical fields, more than 1,300 Airmen are serving at other mass vaccination centers nationwide.
“I thought it was important for me to see an example of the support we’re providing FEMA and others in the COVID effort. I enjoyed it immensely. I got a lot out of seeing the Airmen and speaking to them,” Roth said.
“I was pleased to see how effectively and efficiently the operation was being run and I was particularly taken with the individual Airmen and how enthusiastic they were about trying to help out,” he said.
“One of the reasons I leave the Pentagon is for opportunities like this is to visit Airmen and Guardians and see the great work they are doing. To get out and see Airmen and Guardians is always refreshing and I always come back very optimistic with the state of the force, the morale of the force and the talent we have out there.”
Along with its state and federal partners, the Air Force, and specifically Airmen operating under the 15th Air Force, have made a considerable contribution. To date, the personnel have given more than 570,000 vaccinations across the eight facilities where they are assigned.
Roth said he was impressed by how well the various government entities meshed to move people from the entrance through the eight tents that have stations for screening people, record keeping, providing information about the vaccines, then to later stations where the vaccines are administered and seats for the after-shot waiting period.
While the mix of participants may be unusual, the concept isn’t for Air and Space Forces personnel, Roth said.
“It really is a good example of the idea of ‘joint operations’ but in a different way. It’s very impressive,” he said.AFWN 



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