JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash — Those with active military connections and underlying medical conditions now qualify for COVID-19 vaccines administered by Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM).
“It’s a big step, it’s a lot of people,” said Lt. Col. Luke Mease, chief of preventive medicine.
Mease said active military members, their families and civilian Department of Defense employees now qualify under JBLM’s Phase “1-Charlie,” if they suffer from underlying medical conditions.
Mease said those conditions include cancer, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and tobacco use.
“That is a risk factor. We know use of tobacco damages the lungs and the upper airway,” Mease said.
In December, JBLM started vaccinating its health care workers, military police and soldiers scheduled for deployments. It was one of the first military bases in the country to start its vaccination program.
Mease said since then approximately 15,000 people with military connections to JBLM have received at least one dose.
Mease hopes as many as 1,000 people a day will soon be receiving doses at the base's conference center which is now acting as a vaccine clinic.
He did not know when those without medical conditions will receive vaccinations, but when that occurs, he said it will likely be done with drive-through clinics somewhere on the base.