San Diego-area military hospitals also experience surge as Navy, Marine Corps coronavirus cases spike bakersfield.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bakersfield.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Christopher Pruitt is a supervisor for the COVID-19 and Flu Clinic at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, which he explained was some tents set up near the emergency room to screen patients and test for the coronavirus.
Pruitt said he also has seen a “large increase” in coronavirus patients in the last several weeks, which has led to medical staff in the clinic working longer hours and extra days.
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“As a hospital, we had to create a new department a new clinic,” he said, adding that his patients reported being exposed at work or where they’ve recently traveled.
SAN DIEGO
The Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, which serves more than 86,000 veterans, is not among the 37 veterans sites nationwide that will be the first to distribute coronavirus vaccinations, the department announced Thursday.
In a news release, the department said the initial allotment of vaccines will go to front-line VA health care workers and veterans living in long-term care units. Those facilities are set to receive the vaccine as soon as next week, according to a San Diego VA spokeswoman.
The San Diego VA, which serves veterans in San Diego and Imperial counties, expects to get its first shipment the following week.