Cal Guard combats COVID-19 in Long Beach

By Staff Sgt. Kimberly Hill
California National Guard Public Affairs

March 24, 2021

LONG BEACH, Calif.—Car horns sound off in the distance, the Southern California traffic only slightly muffled inside the concrete multi-level parking garage.

A Soldier directs traffic through orange cones to an increasingly familiar destination across the country—a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination site.

When the sedan finally reaches their lane, they’re met by an Airmen carrying a clipboard. After taking down their information, the Army medic approaches the vehicle, needle in hand.

The woman’s eyes lift up in what is a likely smile of relief under her flower-print mask after the syringe is removed. The medic’s eyes crinkle up as she puts the band-aid over the tiny puncture wound on the woman’s left arm.

“See you in a few weeks for your second dose Ma’am.”

California National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have been supporting the City of Long Beach and California Office of Emergency Services (CAL OES) in COVID-19 vaccination efforts at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center since mid-January.

With restrictions still in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, stadiums, campuses, and convention centers across the country have transformed from entertainment and higher learning centers to mass community vaccination sites. Cal Guard service members across the state have answered their call to service to support local, state, and federal agencies in operating and manning these vaccination centers.

“The California National Guard is currently working with Cal OES and the City of Long Beach, we have a great team here at the convention center and we’re all working toward that common mission of vaccinating everyone that’s eligible to be vaccinated, said U.S. Army Capt. Sean Roberto Inkelaar-Cruz, the officer in charge of the Long Beach vaccination team and a Los Angeles native.

The vaccination team is comprised of nearly 70 Soldiers and Airmen with the Cal Guard, many of whom are natives to Southern California.

“The Guard brings a consistency that we need, and we appreciate their efforts and their commitment,” said Kristina Gollinger, the site manager of the convention center.

Cal Guardsmen work operations at the drive-thru clinic, with non-medical service members assisting in moving and packaging the vaccines, directing traffic throughout the parking structure, and checking patients in to their appointments. Cal Guard medics work readying each dosage for use, ensuring no potential vaccines is wasted from each vial, as well as administering vaccines to community members at the drive-thru lanes.

“Either I’ll be at the drawing tables which is to draw up the vaccines on a daily basis or on one of the lanes administering vaccines to the public,” said U.S. Army Spc. Abdul Ali, a combat medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-185 Infantry Battalion.

“Both roles are equally important, but I prefer administering the vaccines because I get to interact with the public, and you get to see the difference you’re making.

”The Long Beach site routinely vaccinates 2,800 community members a day, between the drive-thru and walk-in clinic, with the Cal Guard team working closely with the City of Long Beach Health Department, said Inkelaar-Cruz.

“Get vaccinated….it’s the right thing to do, you’re not only helping yourself, but think about everyone’s community as a whole,” said Ali, an Anaheim, California native. Many of these service members have been on orders since the beginning of the pandemic, some working multiple operations including domestic response missions for civil unrest, wildfire missions, as well as COVID-19 testing sites, said Inkelaar-Cruz, who is also a company commander for the Cal Guard’s Alpha Company, 250th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Battalion.

“Just feeling that you can help people, that you can really make a difference…it’s why I joined the Guard in the first place,” said Ali.

While it has been a hectic year for these Cal Guard service members, are grateful for the chance to serve their local communities and be a part of such a historic mission, said Inkelaar-Cruz. “It’s the best feeling in the world to tell you the truth, you can see exactly where the fruits of your labor go” he said.

“When you see a 68-year-old coming in for their vaccine so that they can see their grandkids again, it really brings out the humanity of the situation.”