US: Despite Biden's mandate, over 27,000 active military personnel remain unvaccinated

Despite the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination order by Pentagon, nearly 27,000 members of the Marines, Air Force, Space Forces and the Navy have failed to comply with the protocol, raising the prospect that they might be removed from their position or service altogether. According to the vaccination deadline stipulated in August, active soldiers of the US Army are supposed to complete vaccination by December 15, however, about 19,000 of the US Army soldiers are yet to start with the protocol, as per NBC broadcaster. Meanwhile, US Air Force has crossed it's deadline on November 2.

The mandate was announced by Secretary of Defence Staff, Llyod Austin, on August 25, to fully vaccinate staff of armed forces after five service members died of COVID-related complications a week earlier. The memo had directed secretaries to "impose ambitious timelines for implementation" of the mandate and come together to finish the job with "utmost professionalism," Defence One reported. The active service members were asked to get administered vaccines authorised for emergency use by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

21% of active-duty troops vaccinated

As reported by NBC, citing Defence Department, at least 21% of the active-duty military soldiers have been completely vaccinated so far. Officials close to the matter also told the broadcaster that commanders are engaging their soldiers regarding vaccination status, noting that the lack of compliance is a "discipline issue." Speaking with NBC, retired Lieutenant who led coalition forces in Afghanistan, David Barno, said that "You've got thousands of troops who are essentially refusing a legal order to take the vaccine — I've never seen anything like that happen before. It's very unsettling." He also emphasised that the negligible number of the unvaccinated undermines the entire force.

"Even just 3 or 4 percent means tens of thousands of troops that are unvaccinated, which means they are hugely vulnerable to the virus and are pretty much nondeployable to anywhere in the world where the virus is raging," retired Lt. David Barno told NBC.

As of November 24, about 97% of the Navy soldiers have been fully vaccinated, leaving 9,500 sailors without adequate immunity against the COVID virus. The number was lowered after the Navy noticed discrepancies in tracking system data. "We strive to provide the most accurate and timely information to maintain transparency regarding the Navy’s effort to fight COVID-19,” Lt. Devin Arneson, a Navy spokeswoman said in an email to Defence One.

Soldiers demand exemption on various ground

Meanwhile, unvaccinated active service members have requested exemption to COVID vaccines on medical, religious and administrative grounds. As per reports, the Marine Corps have approved 14 permanent and 316 temporary medical exemptions. While the Navy has approved 7 permanent exemptions on medical and 134 on administrative grounds, it has clearly stated in a release that it "does not formally grant religious accommodations for vaccinations." On completion of the deadline, the Navy has decided to review statuses of all partially or unvaccinated to have their requests accepted or denied.

"We will be addressing each case on a case-by-case basis. We're just not going to all kick them out on the day of the deadline itself," Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said Nov. 17, as quoted by Defence One.

It is worth noting that a revised memo released on November 16 by US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth highlighted that soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 unless under medical or administrative exemption,  will not be allowed to re-enlist of promoted. The new directive principles will be applicable for active soldiers and reservists, including National Guardsmen in areas whose state governors do not abide by vaccine mandate. The memo signed by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth also indirectly implied that failing to comply with the rule will effectively end military careers as soldiers will be flagged and/or not re-enlisted, Defence One had reported.

(Image: AP)