By Oren Liebermann, Ellie Kaufman and Devan Cole | CNN
Nearly 40% of U.S. Marines are taking down Covid-19 vaccinations, according to data provided by the service to CNN on Friday, the first branch to release service numbers on acceptance and rejection.
As of Thursday, about 75,500 Marines had received vaccines, including men and women who had been fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated. About 48,000 marines chose not to receive vaccines, at a decrease of 38.9%.
CNN has reached out to the other services for acceptance and rejection rates.
The corresponding acceptance rate for vaccinations among marines – 61.1% – is not far from the military estimate of two thirds or about 66%.
Another 102,000 marines have not yet been offered the vaccines. The total number of marines includes active service, reserves and individual mobility marines.
According to another set of data provided to CNN, the declination rate at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, one of the leading Marine Corps bases, was much higher, at 57%. Of the 26,400 Marines offered vaccinations, 15,100 chose not to receive them, a number that includes both II Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Installation East – Camp Lejeune. It is planned that another 11,500 Marines will be offered the vaccines.
‘We firmly believe that the acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine offers us the best way to defeat the pandemic. The key to tackling the pandemic is building confidence in vaccines, “Marine Corps spokesman Colonel Kelly Frushour said in a statement to CNN.
Frushour said there are a number of possible reasons why a Marine may choose not to receive a vaccine, including first allowing others to receive it, waiting until it becomes mandatory, to get through other channels or be allergic to the vaccine.
“Service members who deteriorate one day may change their minds and be vaccinated when the opportunity arises,” she said.
CNN reported last month that the disapproval rate for vaccination among service members could be nearly 50%, a number that is higher than the 33% figure used by defense officials in public.
The military cannot make the vaccines compulsory now, as it only has food and drug administration emergency permits, which means that service members who have to receive a series of other vaccinations have the option of refusing shots against Covid-19 to protect.
Officials say most of the vaccine hesitation stems from concerns about the speed with which the vaccines were developed, and the fear of long-term effects.
The Department of Defense has approximately 2.2 million service members working around the world. For every 10 percentage point drop in the acceptance rate, it is 220,000 individuals who choose not to receive vaccines, a number that is potentially large enough to affect power readiness. Last year, the military experienced a handful of sensational Covid eruptions, including one aboard an aircraft carrier deployed in the Pacific Ocean.
Last month, a group of Democratic lawmakers called on President Joe Biden to issue a “waiver of informed consent” to be vaccinated against Covid-19 for all U.S. military conscripts, and wrote in a letter that ” disinformation and skepticism against vaccines’ influencing service members to choose to be vaccinated.