Green Country VA clinics begin offering COVID-19 booster shots to eligible veterans

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Hundreds of Green Country veterans are receiving their COVID-19 booster shots this week.

At the new Earnest Childers VA Health Care Center, veterans arrive for all kinds of appointments.

Kirk Thompson thought he might as well get the shot while he’s here.

“I was here for a standard finger splint and saw that the booster was available and I jumped in there,” Thompson said.

Thompson is a Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War.

“I was on an aircraft carrier, the famous USS Forrestal,” he said.

Thompson said it was a “no brainer” to get her recall.

“Well, at the end of the day you are trying to get the protection you need and it was obvious to me that this was something that I needed,” said Thompson.

For Air Force veteran Norman Hutton, coming in for a recall was a priority after his battle with COVID last year.

Hutton said he was in hospital with COVID last year for 17 days, including three days on a ventilator.

“I had been vaccinated after I left the hospital. I don’t want to go through this again, ”Hutton said. “It’s mean.”

Green Country VA clinics offer Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to those who qualify.

Nurse manager Robert Gaygay said the clinic will administer the injections for as long as needed.

“We will continue to give this until we vaccinate our last available veteran,” Gaygay said.

The VA also offers the coup to caregivers of veterans and their spouses.

Navy veteran Jim Byrd and his wife Carolyn walked into their examination room together, took their snaps within seconds of each other, and then walked on, feeling a little more protected than before.

Clinics in Tulsa, Muskogee, McAlester and Vinita accept walk-in visits Monday through Friday.

The VA also encourages veterans to get the flu shot.

The following information comes from the VA Center:

For those who have completed a series of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, the following groups are eligible for a booster at least 6 months after their second dose:

  1. 65 and over
  2. 18 years and over who live long-term care facilities.
  3. 18 years and over who have underlying medical conditions.
  4. 18 years and over who work or live in high risk settings.

For those who have had a J&J COVID-19 vaccine, boosters are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older and who were vaccinated at least 2 months ago.


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