KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City VA Medical Center now is vaccinating high-priority veterans as its COVID-19 vaccine rollout program continues this weekend.
"It brings a lot of hope. It really aligns with our mission," KC VA Medical Center Director David Isaacks said.
And it's a mission to vaccinate Kansas City's veterans, with a full clinic on Saturday. Two hundred appointments were scheduled Saturday and 200 are planned for Sunday. Top-priority vets go first.
"Our veterans today are really our high-risk veterans," Isaacks said. "They're dialysis patients, hemodialysis, chemotherapy, but also veterans that are 85 and older, and have maybe multiple comorbidities as disease conditions."
One of those veterans who received the vaccine Saturday is Dominic Messina, who served in the Marine Corps.
"I’m 81 years old. I’m hoping to be 90. Gotta do everything you gotta do," Messina said.
Isaacks said another 300 veterans will receive a COVID-19 vaccine next week. The VA, according to Isaacks, is using the Moderna vaccine.
"Moderna just makes sense for our really our region, as Kansas City VA we are both an urban and rural health care system," he said. "So that's why one of the benefits of us having Moderna, is being able to transport that to rural locations in the coming weeks."
The first shipment of Moderna's vaccine will cover 1,700 total employees and vets before the New Year's holiday, according to the VA.
