Listen • 3:56 The Department of Veterans Affairs administers COVID-19 vaccines in a repurposed dining area at the Durham, North Carolina VA medical center. Congress has told the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer COVID-19 vaccines to some 24 million people who don't usually get their health care through the VA. When it comes to getting its patients vaccinated, the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system has in many ways been out ahead of its counterparts responsible for inoculating the general population. In several regions, the VA already has opened vaccinations to all its enrollees, regardless of age or health status. But now Congress has given it a bigger vaccination challenge.