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The FDA formally licensed the Pfizer-BioNTech COMIRNATY® COVID-19 vaccine on August 23, 2021. Secretary Austin issued a memorandum on August 24, 2021, that directed Secretaries of the Military Departments to immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensure of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, now called Comirnaty, based on rigorous studies and efficacy and safety data collected during use over the past year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and recommend that all persons get COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as possible. Over 363 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S. Our SELRES Sailors must be ready to execute our mission at all times in places throughout the world, including where vaccination rates are low and disease transmission is high. Despite effective and sound mitigation measures like the Health Protection Condition framework, the infection rate and fatalities among our Department workforce continue to rise, underscoring how transmissible and lethal the Delta variant is within our communities. Vaccinating every eligible Reserve Sailor improves warfighting readiness. Q. Can Navy Reserve Sailors receive the COVID-19 vaccine from the DoD? A. Yes. Selected Reserve (SELRES) and Full-Time Support (FTS) Sailors are eligible and encouraged to receive COVID-19 vaccines for free at military treatment facilities (MTFs) or other DoD vaccination sites as available in accordance with the DoD Vaccine Population Schema. NOSC and Reserve unit leadership teams will share vaccination plans with Reserve Sailors once the vaccine becomes available in their area. Please check with your NOSC and Reserve unit leadership first before contacting your MTF. Q. I don’t live near a MTF or DoD vaccination site, can I get the COVID-19 vaccine through my county health department or my personal health plan? A. Yes. SELRES Sailors can utilize local civil vaccination programs. The goal is to rapidly and safely vaccinate as many Sailors in order to build COVID-19 immunity across the force. SELRES Sailors should not wait for DoD vaccination opportunities if they have earlier access to civil vaccination programs. SELRES Sailors should provide documentation of their vaccination to their unit. Q. Do I have to be in a duty status in order to receive the COVID-19 vaccination? A. Follow guidance from your chain of command about duty-status and other procedures if you wish to get COVID-19 vaccine at a MTF. You do not have to be in a duty status to get the vaccine from a non-DoD source in your local community. Q. If I am enrolled in a TRICARE health plan, can I receive the COVID-19 vaccine from a retail pharmacy (Walgreens, Giant Supermarket, etc)? A. Yes, when available. Don’t forget to report your vaccination to your unit. Q. How will the Navy Reserve track personnel who receive a COVID vaccine? A. The Navy Reserve will track COVID vaccine administration through existing medical record reporting systems. Q. Will we still need to wear masks and practice physical distancing once a vaccine is available? A. Yes. The intent of the vaccine is to prevent the spread of COVID 19. We will still need to wear cloth face covings and practice physical distancing to limit the spread of the virus. Additionally, we will not have enough vaccine initially to vaccinate everyone who wants the vaccine and COVID-19 pandemic risks will continue. We will continue to recommend wearing masks and practicing physical distancing, for everyone, until pandemic risk of COVID-19 is substantially reduced. Q. What about my dependents and family members? A. High-risk beneficiaries are considered Phase 2 of the DoD’s vaccine distribution plan, while healthy beneficiaries are in the final stage of the distribution plan. Q. Why is the Secretary mandating military vaccinations now? A. After months of infections and hospitalizations going down, there has been a steep spike in COVID-19 cases due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant. Delta puts us in a much more challenging situation because it is significantly more transmissible, with evidence that it causes more serious disease. Due to the variant’s highly transmissible nature, it is spreading widely among the unvaccinated populations, putting them at great risk. This negatively impacts the readiness of military units and increases demands on military hospitals and clinics. Additionally, the COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be safe and very effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths. As we do with other deadly infections, we want to protect our force through the best tool available, vaccination. Required vaccination to protect the force is routine for DoD, including annual influenza vaccination. DoD currently requires at least 9 vaccines for individuals entering military service and up to 17 vaccines depending on the Service member’s role and geographic region. Q. Does Secretary Austin’s direction to the Services apply to all Service members? A. Yes, all members of the Active and Reserve Components, including the National Guard, will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine along with the list of other vaccines they are already required to receive as part of their individual medical readiness requirements. Q. Does the Secretary’s direction apply to all available COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of the potential timeline of formal FDA approval and licensure? A. The Secretary’s direction establishes a requirement for Service members to be fully vaccinated. Service members can elect to receive any FDA licensed or authorized (EUA) vaccine to meet that requirement. If vaccinations are being given on a mandatory basis, the only vaccine that may be used at this time is the Comirnaty vaccine. Q. What happens if a Service member refuses to get the vaccine? A. Required vaccinations are nothing new to the U.S. military. As Secretary Austin said, “We are confident the men and women of our military – even the ones who have been hesitant – will comply with this requirement, just as they do when given any other mission-essential order.” That said, should a member of the military decline to accept it, without a valid medical or administrative exemption, we will make available to him/her a full range of resources – to include individual and professional medical advice – to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. We want our people to be fully informed about any medical procedure, this one included. If counseling and informal efforts fail to convince, a member’s chain of command could, as a last resort, take appropriate administrative or appropriate disciplinary action commensurate to the alleged offense. But again, we view it as highly unlikely that commanders will find it necessary to take action under the UCMJ. They have a range of other tools available to them and will ultimately make judgments based on the circumstances of each case in consultation with legal and medical professionals. Q. What if a Service member has religious objections to the vaccine or has a health condition that would make vaccination inadvisable? A. A Service member may request exemption from the vaccination requirement for reasons of religious accommodation through the normal administrative process. Each Service has its own procedures for religious exemptions. If the Service member has a health issue for which vaccination is contraindicated, a DoD physician can include an exemption in the member’s health record. These medical exemptions will only be granted by a medical professional.
For more information about the COVID-19 itself vaccine, please go to https://www.health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Combat-Support/Public-Health/Coronavirus.
Q: What signs or symptoms should I be concerned about if I am in ROM? A: If you have an influenza like illness (ILI) as defined by: An acute respiratory infection with measured fever of 100.4F or above and cough, members must contact the local military treatment facility or emergency room via telephone and remain in isolation. Q: What if I have symptoms of COVID-19? What actions should I take? A: Communicate with your NRA and Reserve unit leadership. Members on orders should contact the MHS Nurse Advice Line (1-800-TRICARE) or their local medical treatment facility for medical advice. Isolated members not on orders should contact their medical provider or local emergency room. In all cases, members should phone ahead prior to seeking in-person medical care.
Q: I don’t have a telework agreement with my Reserve unit? Can I still telework? A: Yes! As part of the ongoing efforts to minimize COVID-19 Coronavirus transmission, Commander, Navy Reserve Force (CNRF) waived several telework administrative requirements and increasing telework options for Reserve Sailors. Per ALNAVRESFOR 009/20, the changes are to encourage liberal telework arrangements at all Reserve command levels to the maximum extent possible in order to provide Reserve Sailors opportunities to continue to complete annual drill point requirements. The policy was also updated Dec. 21, 2020, in ALNAVRESFOR 030/20. Q: What’s been waived from the telework policy? A: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Navy Reserve force has been operating under telework exemptions in order to maintain continuity of operations. While many of the exemptions remain in place, the new CY 2021 guidance provides updated requirements to align with Department of Defense (DoD) policy.
Beginning February 1, 2021, executing orders for Annual Training (AT) and Active Duty Training (ADT) will require the completion of DoD online telework training and a DD Form 2946 to utilize telework. Inactive Duty Training (IDT), Additional Training Periods (ATP) or Readiness Management Periods (RMP) executed outside of scheduled drill weekends will also require the completion of DD Form 2946. The remaining waiver of telework administrative requirements, as listed under COMNAVRESFOR Instruction 1000.9A, will remain in effect until further notice.
Although in-person drill weekends are preferable, Navy Reserve Activity (NRA) Commanding Officers may designate partial or complete virtual drill weekends on a case-by-case basis. The approval for AT and ADT telework is delegated to the O-6 staff level of the Reserve Component Command, NRA or supported command. All other forms of telework may be approved by the applicable NRA commanding officer or officer-in-charge.
Read the entire ALNAVRESFOR 030/20 at: https://go.usa.gov/xAbND DoD telework training resources are located at: https://www.telework.gov/training-resources/telework-training/virtual-telework-fundamentals-training-courses/ DoD telework agreement form DD2946 can be found at: https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/forms/dd/dd2946.pdfa
Q: What can I do for IDT telework? A: How about what can’t you do?! There are literally dozens of tasks and training opportunities available for Reservists to complete while on telework, including: • Personnel Qualification Standards including, Warfare Qualifications, NRAU CO/OIC Qualification • CAC updates (recommend removing per N6) • Virtual DRT • Virtual CDB • Record review for promotion/advancement including awards review • Unit management/admin including, RUAD scrub, MAS code scrub, MyNavy Assignments/JOAPPLY participation, RMFT orders scrub • E-learning in-rate training for example Basic Combat Skills This is not an exhaustive list. Work with your unit leadership to find out how you can fulfill your time. Q: Can I use Microsoft Teams for telework? A: As long as it is an acceptable to your command, then yes. Deployment of the Commercial Virtual Remote (CVR) is underway. To learn more information about the Navy’s Commercial Virtual Remote environment, please check out the following site: https://www.public.navy.mil/navwar/NAVY311/Pages/CVR.html A best practice includes using the Navy Reserve Homeport (NRH) for file sharing and storage, and using CVR for voice, video, and chat collaboration. CNRFC N6 strongly advises members to use non-NMCI devices to register and employ the CVR. The CNRFC N6 has a comprehensive library of CVR information available on the CNRFC SharePoint site. Q: Can I telework for my AT/ADT orders? A: Reserve members asked to conduct AT or Active-Duty Training (ADT) via telework by their gaining command require first flag officer approval from the command and should follow telework procedures and directives of the applicable supported command. There are no legal restrictions that prevent telework for AT/ADT provided the command authorizes it. Active component commands should ensure that sufficient controls are in place to ensure satisfactory completion of all required work by the SELRES Reservist. Orders shall not authorize travel or lodging funds as duties will be performed at home. Members with approval for telework during the COVID-19 period from the gaining command will have orders written to their local NOSC and members will coordinate with the local NOSC for muster and pay while on approved telework orders.