Crowds have increased at FEMA’s COVID-19 vaccination site at the Tampa Greyhound Track, and members of the U.S. Air Force are out in force to help underserved populations get protected.

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“There are stations for each of the nurses and people with iPads to help with pre-registration,” Senior Airman Kylie Gallivan said as she pointed to the FEMA tents.

This is Gallivan’s first deployment, and she works in logistics.

The tents were already there when her unit arrived, so she and others helped get everything set up just right inside.

“I’m very excited. I know a lot of people here are. It’s very unique, and it just feels like we’re making a big difference in this community,” she said.

Senior Airman Kylie Gallivan (Alese Underwood/Spectrum News)

Gallivan is one of more than 140 Air Force service members in Tampa for the mass vaccination effort. It’s quite a different job than the one she regularly performs at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.

“I actually drive semi-trailers and folklifts to deliver cargo as well as buses to move personnel. So, this is a very different operation for me,” she said.

“FEMA response – typically you see us supporting hurricanes and things like that. Usually that’s the National Guard, but this is active duty personnel out here,” MSgt Holly Roberts-Davis explained.

Service members are typically some of the first to arrive at the site and last to leave.

They work 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“I know a lot of people may think ‘oh you’re deployed to Florida. That must be a nice beach vacation.’ Unfortunately that’s not the case,” Roberts-Davis said.

For Gallivan, the conversations she has with the people receiving the vaccines makes it all worth it.

“I was asking 'how are you feeling,’ and I got the generic answer of ‘good’ or ‘fine’ or ‘nervous,’ and one woman actually told me she feels hopeful. And that kind of resonated with me because that can just show you that you’re making an extreme difference in communities like this. To give back hope, when for so long it’s felt like it may have been lost,” Gallivan said.

Air Force members are expected to be out working at the FEMA site for a minimum of eight weeks.