Additional Information on COVID-19 Vaccines from Federal VA
For Veterans enrolled in the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Spokane VAMC and its clinics, Walla Walla VA, or Portland VAMC: If you're eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, your VA health care team will contact you directly. For vaccine-related questions, visit COVID-19 vaccines at VA | Veterans Affairs.
More VA Puget Sound Health Care System Information: Along with vaccines being administered at VA Puget Sound’s Seattle and American Lake campus, they expect to extend to its Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Silverdale and Mount Vernon by the end of January. As of January 19, 2021, Veterans 75 years or older are being actively scheduled now for the vaccine. Eligible veterans can call 206-716-5716 to schedule a vaccine, or contact their primary care team. Veterans must be health care eligible to be scheduled for vaccination, but do not need to be enrolled in primary care/Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT). VA Puget Sound continues to proactively contact Veterans to make vaccine appointments when it is their turn, so its policy of no walk-in patients outside of emergent care needs remains in place. In addition to its proactive outreach by phone, Veterans enrolled with a cell phone number listed in their health record will be notified by text about their ability to get the vaccine, and will able to respond to the text to make their appointments.
More Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center Information: The Department of Veterans Affairs Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center is vaccinating Veterans with the Moderna vaccine in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic. VA staff are calling Veterans, based on CDC guidelines prioritizing Veteran patients by age groups and high-risk comorbidities. At this time, there is no walk-in clinic available at Mann-Grandstaff VAMC for vaccination of Veterans. Each Veteran will be scheduled for their first and second appointments, 28-days apart. They should allow 30-minutes for the appointment, to include the vaccine, documentation, and observation period to check for any side-effects. The VA Medical Center has also instituted a new Veteran Vaccination Information hotline at (509) 434-7979 to update callers on which categories and age group of Veterans are being scheduled for their vaccines. The hotline is a listen-only line, updated weekly. More than 28,000 Veterans are enrolled with Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center and its clinics. Veterans arriving at the medical center will still undergo the drive-through screening process before being directed to their appointment or Urgent Care Center. Masks are mandatory and social and physical-distancing protocols remain in effect on campus. For further information, please refer to www.spokane.va.gov and the coronavirus information maintained on the homepage and at www.facebook.com/vaspokane.
More Walla Walla VA Medical Center (VAWW) Information: VAWW is actively contacting health care eligible Veterans at all clinic locations to schedule appointments for vaccinations. Walk-ins and requests for appointments are not occurring at this time. For the Walla Walla VA campus location, Veterans 65 years and older are being scheduled. For the La Grande VA CBOC clinic, Veterans 75 and older are being scheduled. And for the Richland VA CBOC, Yakima VA CBOC, and Lewiston VA CBOC, Veterans 85 and older are being scheduled. Veterans who are registered with the Enterprise and Boardman Telehealth Clinics will also be called and scheduled to a VAWW location they can easily travel to. VAWW is asking Veterans to NOT CALL to inquire about vaccinations. VAWW Veterans are encouraged to check for COVID-19 vaccination information updates at both VAWW’s website and VAWW’s Facebook page.
VHA announced on January 22 that health care facilities will begin offering COVID-19 testing and vaccinations to designated family caregivers of Veterans participating in the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC). Each VHA care facility will determine the start date for vaccines for eligible Caregivers based on our site-specific resources, needs and vaccine available.
If you’re not currently receiving health care through VA, find out if you're eligible and how to apply now.