THE WATCH STAFF
Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) has called it mission accomplished in the campaign to vaccinate nearly 50,000 Afghan evacuees temporarily housed at eight military installations in the United States.
The evacuees were vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox in a nationwide effort called “historic” by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in an October 4, 2021, announcement.
Eligible Afghans also received shots for polio, COVID-19 and other diseases, as well as medical exams and health screenings, as a condition of their humanitarian resettlement, according to DHS. (Pictured: Army Spc. Isaiah Whiteside prepares a vaccine to be administered to an Afghan evacuee in the medical screening site at Fort Bliss, New Mexico.)
Evacuees have also been receiving vaccinations at staging areas in Europe and the Middle East, according to DHS. Flights to the U.S. from those sites resumed in the first week of October after being suspended because four cases of measles were detected among the evacuees. The U.S. evacuated about 120,000 people from Afghanistan in August. They were a mix of U.S. citizens, Afghans with legal permanent residency or who were applying for visas and refugee status along with their families, according to The Associated Press.
“The success of this vaccination campaign demonstrates our commitment to the health and well-being of arriving Afghan evacuees, the personnel assisting this mission and the American people,” Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, the DHS chief medical officer and lead medical advisor of OAW, said in a news release. “Operation Allies Welcome reflects the best of our country.”
OAW is a coordinated effort across the federal government to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans, many of whom worked on behalf of the United States at risk to themselves and their families. The Department of Defense (DOD), through U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and in support of DHS, is providing transportation, temporary housing, medical screening and general support for the evacuees.
“Our nation’s citizens should feel confident in all that has been accomplished as well as the continuing efforts … to enable our Afghan guests to be fully ready to depart DOD installations where they are temporarily residing to safely begin their lives in America,” Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of USNORTHCOM, said in the DHS news release.
VanHerck said there are about 14,000 Afghans overseas who are expected to come to the U.S. from the staging areas.
The Afghan evacuees must successfully complete a rigorous vetting that includes biometric and biographic screenings conducted by intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism professionals from DHS, DOD, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Counterterrorism Center and other intelligence agencies to enter the U.S. If further vetting at the port of entry raises concerns about an evacuee, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the authority to deny entry.
Jack Markell, the White House coordinator for OAW, also applauded the response to evacuees from Americans across the country, citing military veterans, faith leaders, private sector companies and the Afghan American diaspora.
“We’ve seen that Americans are proud of so many Afghans who’ve supported us over the past 20 years in Afghanistan, and believe that they deserve our support in return,” he said during a September 24 press briefing.
IMAGE CREDIT: SGT. BRAHIM DOUGLAS/U.S. ARMY