NAVY TO OFFER BOOSTERS FOR HOBBLED SHIP
Milwaukee remains idled at base at Guantanamo Bay
U.S. Navy commanders whose ship is hobbled by a coronavirus outbreak are consulting with military medical personnel about providing vaccine boosters to the crew, officials said, as senior Defense Department leaders assess how the littoral combat ship Milwaukee can resume its deployment amid a global spike in infections fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The Milwaukee, with a crew of 105 plus a detachment of Coast Guard personnel and an aviation unit, remained idle Monday at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where it stopped to refuel Dec. 20. It had been at sea less than a week. About two dozen sailors aboard the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus, defense officials told The Associated Press on Monday.
While the Navy told all its sailors last week it strongly recommends the booster and expects them to be a requirement soon, the regimen is not mandatory for the crew of the Milwaukee. Booster shots would be offered on a voluntary basis, said Cmdr. Kate Meadows, a spokeswoman for U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. Commanders also have implemented a strict indoor-outdoor mask mandate, hoping to prevent further spread.
Another warship, meanwhile, had to postpone its movement out to sea earlier this month due to a separate outbreak. Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson, spokesman for 3rd Fleet, said the destroyer Halsey delayed its homeport move from Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, to San Diego because a significant number of the crew became infected with COVID-19. The ship was finally able to leave Hawaii on Sunday. The move is not a deployment, but a transfer to a new home station for the crew.
A Navy official said roughly one-third of the Halsey crew tested positive for the virus, and most had only mild symptoms or none at all. A destroyer has about 300 crew members. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details on the crew impact.
Robertson said the crew was nearly 100 percent vaccinated and no one was taken to the hospital. Vaccine booster shots were made available for the crew. Robertson also said some of the samples have been tested and all were the Omicron variant.