“We Cannot Make It Mandatory Yet”: Thousands of U.S. Service Members Decline COVID-19 Vaccine
February 18th, 2021Does anyone understand why they can’t they make it mandatory yet?
Update: Reader kjod71 answered this question:
https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/campaigns/covid19/Pages/vaccine.aspx
All DoD beneficiaries and other individuals who are eligible to receive vaccines from DoD will be offered and are encouraged to receive the COVID-19 immunization in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and under the FDA guidelines. The FDA may license the vaccine or release it under Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) or Expanded Access (EA) protocols.
If the vaccine is released under EUA or EA status, vaccination is voluntary* and will not:
be a mandatory military readiness vaccine
a requirement for deployment
a condition of employment for civilian personnel
Future FDA licensure of the vaccine may result in additional DoD guidance for the use of the vaccine as a medical readiness requirement for personnel.
*Unless waived by the President of the United States, COVID-19 vaccine(s) under EUA or EA status are not a mandatory medical readiness requirement.
Via: KTLA:
By the thousands, U.S. service members are refusing or putting off the COVID-19 vaccine as frustrated commanders scramble to knock down internet rumors and find the right pitch that will persuade troops to get the shot.
Some Army units are seeing as few as one-third agree to the vaccine. Military leaders searching for answers believe they have identified one potential convincer: an imminent deployment. Navy sailors on ships heading out to sea last week, for example, were choosing to take the shot at rates exceeding 80% to 90%.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, told Congress on Wednesday that “very early data” suggests that just up to two-thirds of the service members offered the vaccine have accepted.
…
“We cannot make it mandatory yet,” Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander of the Navy’s 2nd Fleet, said last week. “I can tell you we’re probably going to make it mandatory as soon as we can, just like we do with the flu vaccine.”
https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/campaigns/covid19/Pages/vaccine.aspx
All DoD beneficiaries and other individuals who are eligible to receive vaccines from DoD will be offered and are encouraged to receive the COVID-19 immunization in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and under the FDA guidelines. The FDA may license the vaccine or release it under Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) or Expanded Access (EA) protocols.
If the vaccine is released under EUA or EA status, vaccination is voluntary* and will not:
be a mandatory military readiness vaccine
a requirement for deployment
a condition of employment for civilian personnel
Future FDA licensure of the vaccine may result in additional DoD guidance for the use of the vaccine as a medical readiness requirement for personnel.
*Unless waived by the President of the United States, COVID-19 vaccine(s) under EUA or EA status are not a mandatory medical readiness requirement.
Thanks very much for providing the answer.
How are they vaccinating the military already? Many elderly and people with health conditions are reporting that they cannot find a place to get the vaccine. In a few locations, they have careers such as nurse or teacher at the front of the list, but they aren’t letting other career fields with tight quarters get it yet.