Ship wants boosters for outbreak
25% of crew on U.S. Navy vessel test positive for covid-19
U.S. Navy commanders whose ship is hobbled by a coronavirus outbreak are consulting with military medical personnel about providing vaccine boosters to the crew, officials said. Meanwhile senior Defense Department leaders are assessing how the USS Milwaukee can resume its deployment amid a global spike in infections fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant.
The Milwaukee, a littoral combat ship with a crew of 105 plus a detachment of Coast Guard personnel and an aviation unit, remained idle Monday at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where it stopped to refuel Dec. 20. It had been at sea less than a week.
About two dozen sailors on the Milwaukee — or roughly 25% of the crew — have now tested positive for covid-19, defense officials said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. They said the number is staying relatively constant at this point.
A smaller, more stealthy combat ship, the Milwaukee is the first Navy ship this year to have to interrupt its deployment, though others were sidelined during the early months of the virus outbreak.
It began its deployment from Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 14, and had stopped for a scheduled port visit. The ship was heading into the U.S. Southern Command region.
The Navy said in a statement Friday that the ship’s crew is “100% immunized” and that those who tested positive were being isolated.
The officials said Monday that the Navy believes the total vaccination of the crew is the key factor in controlling the outbreak. Navy vessels, where personnel live in confined spaces, are particularly susceptible to outbreaks.
According to the Navy’s statement, “a portion” of those infected are having mild symptoms, and the specific variant is not yet known.
According to the latest data released by the Navy, more than 98% of all active-duty sailors have been fully vaccinated.
While the Navy told all its sailors last week that it strongly recommends the booster and expects them to be a requirement soon, the regimen is not mandatory for the crew of the Milwaukee. Booster shots would be offered on a voluntary basis, said Cmdr. Kate Meadows, a spokeswoman for U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. Commanders also have implemented a strict indoor-outdoor mask mandate, hoping to prevent further spread.
The challenge facing Navy leaders is complicated by a relentless political debate surrounding President Joe Biden’s vaccination strategy for military personnel and other federal workers. Defense Department officials have ordered all U.S. troops to receive a baseline regimen but have wavered on the question of requiring boosters, even as the administration’s top public health experts have warned that an extra dose is necessary to counter the threat posed by omicron.
“The ship has not received any boosters (to date) while in port, but they are coordinating with the [military hospital at Guantanamo Bay] on when boosters could be administered to those personnel who are interested in receiving one,” Meadows said in an email Sunday.
Dawn Grimes, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said Monday that boosters would be transferred to the Milwaukee “pending confirmation of number of doses needed.” Once on the ship, the shots will have a 31-day shelf life, she said, noting that no one from the hospital has yet boarded the vessel.
Military officials have not determined whether the omicron variant — which has demonstrated an ability to evade vaccines, leading to a surge in breakthrough cases — is responsible for the Milwaukee’s outbreak. In announcing that the ship would remain at Guantanamo, Meadows touted the vaccines’ effectiveness for warding off serious illness. No one on the ship has required hospitalization, she said.
Although the overwhelming majority of U.S. military personnel have complied with Biden’s vaccination requirement, tens of thousands have resisted the orders, prompting some expulsions, while others await determinations on requests for religious or medical exemptions. Now the Pentagon is evaluating whether to begin mandating booster shots as well.
The first major military outbreak of the virus was early last year on a Navy warship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that was operating in the Pacific.
The Roosevelt was sidelined in Guam for nearly two months, and more than 1,000 of the 4,800 crew members tested positive.
One sailor died, and the entire crew went through weeks of quarantine in a rotation that kept enough sailors on the ship to keep it safe and running.