Navy to offer booster shots for ship hobbled by coronavirus outbreak

[Tony]

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 USS Milwaukee can resume its deployment amid a global spike in infections fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant.

The Milwaukee, a littoral combat ship 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 Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where it stopped to refuel Dec. 20. It had been at sea less than a week. The Navy has not disclosed how many of the ship’s personnel have tested positive for the virus, saying only that some exhibited mild symptoms and that measures were taken to isolate those infected.