The Department of Veterans Affairs reached two milestones in the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, one grim and one hopeful.
As VA's public data records showed the department surpassed 10,000 patient deaths from the virus so far, VA leaders announced they had vaccinated their 1 millionth veteran on Wednesday.
So far, nearly 330,000 veterans have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the only vaccines so far approved in the United States, both require a two-dose series. VA first began immunizing veterans in December, with a female World War II veteran receiving the first dose.
Overall, VA has vaccinated more than 1.28 million people with at least one dose and more than 546,000 with both doses. More than 258,000 VA employees have received their first dose and nearly 216,000 have received both so far.
VA has also provided vaccines to non-veterans, including "federal partners" through its Fourth Mission to serve as a backup healthcare system for the country in times of crisis. Nearly 10,000 federal partners have received at least one dose of the vaccine from VA as of Wednesday.
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Vaccinating 1 million veterans with at least one dose is a major accomplishment considering the significant limitations on vaccine supply across the country so far, with some VA medical centers running out of the vaccine entirely at times, and others now facing delivery delays for recent shipments of vaccine because of widespread major winter weather events.
Each medical center within the sprawling department -- America's largest healthcare system and second-largest federal agency -- has a different supply of vaccines depending on need, and is distributing them to different priority groups, including those 75 and older, 65 and older, those with pre-existing conditions putting them at greater risk and those who are essential workers.
VA cares for roughly 9 million veterans, about half the total number in the United States. In January, VA requested an increase in the number of vaccines it is allocated, but that request was denied by Operation Warp Speed officials, according to internal VA memos obtained by Connecting Vets.
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Other internal documents showed that VA and other federal agencies expect an increase in vaccine allotment next month, and in the meantime, the department has considered some changes to how it administers the vaccines while they remain severely limited, including extending the time between first and second doses and giving patients two different vaccines for first and second doses when necessary.
“VA guidance encourages local flexibility to maximize COVID-19 vaccine access and efficiency while limiting potential vaccine waste,” Acting VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Richard Stone said in a statement Wednesday. “In this limited supply phase, our COVID-19 vaccination strategy is balancing site-specific resources, facility needs, vaccine availability and status of the pandemic locally, as well as strict storage, handling and transportation parameters of available vaccines.”
More recent internal communications obtained by Connecting Vets show that the White House is looking to promote VA's vaccine success so far, with officials requesting VA vaccine data and photos and videos of vaccine events.
VA is working toward a goal of providing vaccines to all veterans and staff who want to be vaccinated, and is reaching out to veterans as they become eligible.
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30 patient deaths per day
More than 5,200 VA patients have died from complications of COVID-19 since Thanksgiving, according to department data. Since the pandemic began, roughly 30 VA patients have died each day from the virus. Deaths among VA patients more than doubled from Dec. 1, 2020, to Feb. 17, when VA surpassed 10,000 patient deaths.
The first veteran death was announced in March 2020. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced on social media that a veteran in his 70s had died from complications caused by the virus on March 14, 2020. He was a patient at the Portland VA Medical Center at a time when the entire department was tracking only 30 cases of veterans showing signs of the virus, and had administered just 100 tests.
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So far in February, VA has recorded 1,026 patient deaths. January was VA's deadliest month on record during the pandemic, with more than 2,400 patient deaths recorded. VA officials said previously that the number of deaths recorded in a given month may not be a fully accurate account of those who died that month, since data may lag behind, sometimes by weeks.
While VA has recorded a significant spike in total number of patients who have died because of the virus, VA's overall mortality rate has decreased from a high of nearly 6.8% earlier during the pandemic. In October, it was about 5.5%. So far in February, it has reached about 4.6%, up slightly from last month and still significantly higher than the about 1.8% for Americans overall, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
VA's mortality rate is influenced by the age and overall health of its patients, who tend to be older and less healthy than the overall American population.
VA has also lost 128 employees to the virus so far during the pandemic, according to department records, with 54 of those deaths recorded since Dec. 1, 2020.
In a more hopeful development, active cases at VA had dropped to the lowest level since early November. After a surge in cases in the fall, VA saw a drop off in December before a second spike in the number of patients actively sick because of the virus after the holidays, which peaked at record-levels in mid January, exceeding 20,000, before dropping again to current levels around 6,400.
The number of VA patients hospitalized because of the virus also continues to decrease, from more than 1,500 in mid-January down to about 905 as of last week, according to data provided by VA spokesman Randal Noller.
VA has also administered more than 2.7 million COVID-19 tests during the pandemic to more than 1.34 million individuals. Some people, including healthcare workers, are tested for the virus more than once.
For more information on the coronavirus vaccine at VA, or to sign up to be notified of vaccine eligibility, go to www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine.
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Reach Abbie Bennett: abbie@connectingvets.com or @AbbieRBennett.
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