Vaccine mandate sought for all service members
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will seek to mandate coronavirus vaccination for all service members by mid-September, and could begin requiring inoculation even sooner if a vaccine receives full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, the Pentagon said Monday.
The effort is an acknowledgment that rising infection rates across the country pose a particular threat to military readiness, and it follows a monthslong campaign by senior defense officials to cajole the nation’s 1.3 million active-duty service members to get vaccinated voluntarily.
The decision will add the covid-19 vaccine to a list of in
More patients are being parked in emergency rooms while they wait for beds to open up, and the average number of daily deaths is now above 500. The country is averaging about 108,000 new infections and 700,000 vaccinations administered per day.
oculations that service members are already required to get. Depending on their location, service members can get as many as 17 different vaccines.
The Biden administration, alarmed by continued spread of the virus’s delta variant and vaccination rates that remain low in several pockets of the country, has directed agencies throughout the federal government to devise similar plans.
The crisis has worsened around the country, with hospitals experiencing deeper strain in unvaccinated areas of the South. Mississippi reported that 35 medical centers are completely out of intensive-care beds, Arkansas topped its pandemic record for covid admissions, and the average number of people hospitalized nationwide has returned to levels not seen since February.
More patients are being parked in emergency rooms while they wait for beds to open up, and the average number of daily deaths is now above 500. The country is averaging about 108,000 new infections and 700,000 vaccinations administered per day.
Service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading — and any large virus outbreak in the military could affect the nation’s ability to defend itself in any security crisis.
Austin warned that if infection rates rise and potentially affect military readiness, “I will not hesitate to act sooner or recommend a different course to the President if I feel the need to do so. To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force.”
About 65% of the active-duty military is fully inoculated, according to Pentagon data, but rates vary significantly by service as misinformation about the vaccines’ safety has fueled reluctance among a large segment of the workforce.
The Navy, which leads the way, says about 75% of its people are fully inoculated. On the low end, the Marine Corps stands at about 59%.
AUSTIN MEMO
“The intervening few weeks will be spent preparing for this transition,” Austin said in a memo circulated to the Defense Department workforce. “I have every confidence that Service leadership and your commanders will implement this new vaccination program with professionalism, skill, and compassion. We will have more to say about this as implementation plans are fully developed.”
The message stopped short of establishing a deadline by which all personnel must be vaccinated, and did not set a time frame for the individual services to provide plans to Austin. It comes about a week after President Joe Biden announced that he will require federal employees to get vaccinated or undergo repeated testing.
Biden, who must approve Austin’s request, quickly praised the decision as millions of Americans remain resistant to vaccines, and governments and employers increasingly turn to mandates. Overall, only about half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, although rates have begun to rise amid this most recent surge in hospitalizations.
“We cannot let up in the fight against covid-19, especially with the delta variant spreading rapidly through unvaccinated populations,” the president said. “We are still on a wartime footing, and every American who is eligible should take immediate steps to get vaccinated right away.”
Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said vaccines have proved effective.
“Some may try and criticize the secretary’s decision, using anti-vax arguments that are not supported by facts or science to politicize the conversation. These desperate attention seekers must be ignored,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said the vaccine will help protect troops who live in cramped conditions and don’t have the option to telework.
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., however, said Austin should not mandate a vaccine that doesn’t have full FDA approval. “Wearing our country’s uniform does not mean our service members sign away the right to make personal medical decisions,” he said.
MESSAGE FROM MILLEY
In his own message, the Pentagon’s top uniformed officer, Army Gen. Mark Milley, said medical professionals in the Defense Department have recommended vaccination as a “necessary step to sustain our readiness and protect our force, our coworkers, our families, and our communities.”
“Mandating vaccines in the military is not new,” said Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Since the first days of basic training and throughout our service, we’ve received multiple vaccines. We have proven processes with trusted and skilled medical professionals.”
At the bottom of his message, Milley scrawled a note: “Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a key force protection and readiness issue.”
Senior military leaders have wrestled with coronavirus outbreaks throughout the pandemic, including one that crippled the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt while at sea last year. The ship spent weeks in port in Guam, with more than 1,200 sailors of about 4,800 aboard testing positive for the virus and one dying.
Overall, 28 service members have died as a result of the pandemic, according to Pentagon statistics. An additional 254 civilians working for the Defense Department, 16 dependents and 87 defense contractors also have died.
Coronavirus vaccines are presently approved with an emergency-use authorization, as the FDA continues to test them. Senior Pentagon officials have stopped short of requiring vaccination in the interim, while participating in public-awareness campaigns to urge service members to get vaccinated.
John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said that if the FDA grants full approval for a vaccine before September, Austin has the authority to require personnel to get that version of the vaccine immediately, without needing Biden’s approval. Media reports indicate that Pfizer’s version could receive full approval by late August, he noted.
Once a coronavirus vaccine is required for military personnel, it will probably be tracked as part of each service member’s medical record along with other compulsory vaccinations. Kirby declined to speculate on what will happen to service members who refuse to take it once it is required, but in the past the military has removed such people through administrative separation.
In coming days, officials who lead the individual service branches will be required to prepare a plan for Austin detailing how they will carry out the mandate. Kirby said the memo released Monday serves as a “warning order” for the services and individual troops to get ready.
In his memo, Austin urged service members not to wait for the mandate, emphasizing that the vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States have proved “safe and highly effective.”
“They will protect you and your family,” Austin wrote. “They will protect your unit, your ship, and your co-workers. And they will ensure we remain the most lethal and ready force in the world.”