US Military: Thousands of service members refusing COVID-19 vaccine

The United States service members are refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccines. On Wednesday, February 17, speaking before the House Armed Services Committee, Defense officials, including Air Force Maj. Gens. Jeff Taliaferro said that the vaccine acceptance rate for troops is between 66 per cent to 70 per cent. Taliaferro further added that the rate varies by ‘different groups’. The Food and Drug Administration has allowed emergency use of the vaccine, so it's voluntary. But Defense Department officials say they hope that soon may change. 

"Many of them believe that they don't need it, that they feel they've had COVID or friends have had COVID and it wasn't bad, or they're very worried about the vaccine itself. They're afraid it will have side effects or that it just it was created too quickly and they don't know what it will do," said Lolita Baldor, an Associated Press National Security Reporter.

'Clearly safe'

However, the vaccine refusal has not affected deployability as the military has very well accepted working in the pandemic environment. As per Taliaferro, the Defense Department has distributed 506,000 shots. Also, 147,000 second doses have been distributed to the service members. Now, service leaders have vigorously campaigned for the vaccine.

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The reason for the refusal has not been provided as of now. Mainly those who declined it include those in high-risk jobs such as health care, security personnel, those in positions vital to national security and those about to deploy. Taliaferro said that it is ‘clearly safe’ for the service members. He urged that there is a need to continue to educate the force and help people understand the benefits of the same. 

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The decision taken by the forces is worrisome because they live, work and fight closely together in environments where social distancing and wearing masks is somewhat difficult. According to the reports by The Daily Mail, Brigadier General Edward Bailey, the surgeon for Army Forces Command said that they are still struggling with what is the messaging and how to influence people to get the vaccine. He further added that in some units just 30 per cent have agreed to take the vaccine, while others are between 50 per cent and 70 per cent. 

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(Image Credits: AP)