WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – When the world was asked to stay inside because of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, one north country man was asked to go to the epicenter of the outbreak and would later spearhead one of the largest vaccine operations in the world.
When Colonel Michael Bice of the New York Army National Guard got to New York City in May of 2020, it reminded him of a time he’d been called there 19 years earlier.
“When we first got there, it was a lot like when I responded to 9/11. The streets were empty. They were bare. Everybody was in despair. There was a lot of grief and loss of life,” he said.
Colonel Bice, a Watertown resident, was selected to serve as the incident commander overseeing logistics at the Javits Center, a New York City convention center turned field hospital, when local hospitals became overwhelmed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By the time it closed in June 2020, the center successfully treated more than 1,000 patients.
“Looking back, it will be one of the greatest challenges that our generation will ever see. Some of the folks that I worked with, this will be the biggest thing they’ve been part of, and that’s saving lives,” said Colonel Bice.
And more lives would be saved when Javits Center then turned into the city’s largest mass vaccination site in January. Colonel Bice was once again called on to become incident commander of what was known as “Operation Gotham Shield.” During the operation, the Javits Center broke U.S. and world records.
“We vaccinated just shy of 650,000 at the Javits. And over a 24-hour period, we just came shy of 15,000 in one day,” he said.
The operation also distributed vaccines and medical supplies all across the state. And although he was more than 300 miles away, he held the north country close to his heart.
“I was the one that fought for them to get to JCC, Potsdam. I had to get it because I had to help back here as much as anywhere in the state,” said Colonel Bice.
He was recently recognized on the state level as one of Empire BlueCross BlueShield’s Whole Health Heroes, honoring his leadership during his time at the Javits Center.
But Colonel Bice says he owes it all to the hundreds of National Guard military personnel and civilian employees who helped bring hope to a city he once saw in despair less than a year earlier.
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