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Department of Defense working with state, local authorities to improve vaccination plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Efforts by the Department of Defense to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic were at the center of a discussion on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Members of Congress heard from DOD representatives who said teams are being sent to mass vaccination sites and that active-duty military personnel is helping administer the shots.

Thousands of department of defense personnel are deployed across the U.S. In addition to vaccinating active-duty military members, the department is helping civilians get their shots.

Robert Salesses, from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, said the DOD and Federal Emergency Management Agency have developed plans to support vaccine centers to administer up to 6,000 vaccines a day.

More than 28,000 National Guardsmen and Air National Guard airmen are stationed in every state, territory and Washington, D.C.

“Army and Air National Guard members are administering, on average, over 72,000 vaccines a day to local citizens,” said Maj. Gen. Steven Nordhaus of the National Guard Bureau.

President Biden’s administration announced Wednesday that the overall number of daily vaccinations given to Americans is on the rise.

“Our seven-day average daily dosage administered is now 1.7 million average daily shots per day. Up from 1.1 million four weeks ago,” said White House COVID Coordinator Jeffrey Zients.

Meantime, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the number of new COVID-19 cases and new hospitalizations has been declining for the past five weeks.