Army vet Felicia Harris gets her COVID-19 vaccine at a Veterans Administration event Wednesday at Thomas University.

THOMASVILLE — Veterans of all ages, races and branches entered the Thomas University gymnasium on Wednesday morning. 

And waiting for them were Veterans Administration personnel with charts and needles, administering doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Ever since we started receiving the vaccine, our goal is to vaccinate as many veterans as we can,” said Dr. David Waller, deputy chief of staff for the VA of North Florida and South Georgia. “We have been vaccinating since December out of our medical centers and outpatient clinics.”

While the VA has been vaccinating veterans at its facilities, officials realized there were many other veterans who couldn’t make to the clinics or hospitals.

“Some people have difficulty traveling,” Dr. Waller said. “So we wanted to bring as much of the vaccine as we could to smaller areas where we don’t have a clinical presence. Thomasville is one of those areas. 

“We’re looking at strategic areas around our region of north Florida and south Georgia to find areas where we can go into and come to the veteran instead of them having to come to us.”

It was a perfect opportunity to get the vaccine for Boston’s Milton Keith Thomas Jr. He originally was scheduled to get the vaccine Thursday in Tallahassee.

“But I can get it today and it’s very convenient,” he said. “I was bringing my buddy up here. It worked out pretty good.”

Thomas also pointed out how critical getting the vaccine is. 

“That could be a life-altering moment, if you don’t get it,” he said. “It’s very important to me.”

Dr. Waller said the VA’s goal is “not to rest until we get every veteran we serve vaccinated who wants to be vaccinated.”

The VA also is encouraging veterans, and others, to get the vaccine.

“You don’t have to look very far to find people who have had some significant reactions and even deaths associated with COVID,” Dr. Waller said. “The sooner we can get people vaccinated, the better.” 

The VA has all three vaccines available — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson — and set a goal to get least 100 veterans vaccinated at Wednesday’s event. So far, the VA has vaccinated over 60,000 veterans in south Georgia and north Florida. 

“Our goal is to come here and get our more rural areas covered, to get some of our minority veterans vaccinated,” Dr. Waller said. “Again, the goal is to get every veteran vaccinated.”

Dr. Waller extended the VA’s gratitude to Thomas University and Bob Bowman for helping get Wednesday’s vaccination event set up.

“This collaboration is so significant and greatly appreciated,” he said.

At other events such as Wednesday’s, there have been vets lined up as early as 5 a.m. for an 8 a.m. start time, Dr. Waller noted. The VA also aims to tell veterans how safe the process and the vaccines are. 

“We have some veterans who have been a bit more apprehensive about the process,” he said. “Part of what we’re doing is an education process about the safety of the vaccine. We’re educating on safety. We’re educating on the necessity. If you think about it, people over the age of 75 or have other health conditions, these folks are the ones who have a significantly higher risk of having an adverse outcome should they get COVID.

“If you have talked to someone who has experienced COVID, you don’t have to listen to too many stories to realize how important this is.”

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.