BALTIMORE — The Baltimore VA Medical Center began administering COVID-19 vaccinations to Veterans who are outpatients on Monday.
They began vaccinating frontline health care employees, Veterans residing in long-term care units and inpatients with spinal cord injuries last month .
Among the first Veteran outpatients to receive the vaccine were 91-year old Army Veteran Herman Allen and 72-year old Army Veteran Jerry Shepard.
Allen, a Korean War Army Veteran, recently moved to Maryland from Los Angeles, California to live with his daughter. He wants his fellow veterans to “Man up and roll up—their sleeves” to get the vaccine. He is proud to be among the first.
Shepard, a Joppa Maryland native, said he is thrilled to get the vaccine and wants fellow Veterans to know that, “It’s a piece of cake.”
The Baltimore VA Medical Center is part of the initial group of 37 VA medical centers across the country that began receiving and administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week.