A high-ranking military official said Wednesday that a third of service members did not want to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
During a home hearing on the Army’s response to COVID-19, the member of the Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers
Michael (Mike) Dennis RogersOvernight Defense: A third of service members refuse coronavirus vaccine | Biden will take action in response to Solar Winds hack | US, Japan reach cost-sharing agreement DOD says nearly one-third of service members take down COVID-19 vaccine, overnight defense: Pentagon, Congress Appoints Panelists to Rename Confederate Bases | The military approves another 20 coronavirus vaccination teams (R-Ala.) Major-General Jeff Taliaferro, deputy director of operations, asked what percentage of service members did not want to receive the vaccine.
“I think our initial appearance – and this is of course very early data – is that the acceptance rates are somewhere in the two-thirds area, and it obviously differs according to different groups,” Taliaferro said.
Rogers followed up by asking if the non-vaccinated service members could be deployed.
Taliaferro stated that non-immunized service members could be deployed, saying that the “services and missions” introduced over the past year have enabled the military to operate in a ‘COVID environment’.
In the same trial, Major General Steven Nordhaus confirmed that vaccinations were voluntary for military members.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in January asked the Department of Defense (DoD) to assist in the distribution and administration of coronavirus vaccines at FEMA sites, with up to 3,700 troops ready to assist with vaccinations.
However, the DoD has so far not disclosed how many service members have been vaccinated. In early February, the Military Times reported that the DoD had made it a policy not to report branch bonds of those who received the vaccine.
Pentagon officials had earlier insisted they did not know how many service members refused to get the vaccine, as there is no system to track the information because the program is voluntary.
‘This is not the kind of thing we follow here [the office of the secretary of Defense] has a database we can just go from. That is not the case now, “Kirby told reporters earlier this month.
DoD also made it a policy not to report affiliate commitments of those who received the vaccine, Military Times reported in early February.
Kirby later on Wednesday refuted allegations that officials were hiding information, saying the Department of Defense did not have a centralized system in place to track how many servicemen refused the vaccine.
“We do not have a system available in all the services to track data specifically regarding individuals who, for whatever reason, take or delay the vaccine.”
He said that during the House trial, officials quoted broad data on the acceptance rates of vaccines that “reflect” trends in American society, and that officials further said that it is not data that they specifically follow.
He also insisted that the Pentagon make no effort to hide information about the number of troops deciding not to be vaccinated.
“Nobody hides data,” Kirby said. “There’s no reason for us to hide data if we can tell you exactly how many people are getting the vaccines.”
Ellen Mitchell contributed
– Updated 18:01