As of last Thursday, 48,000 US soldiers have declined to be vaccinated against covid-19. This is according to data provided to CNN by the US Military. 75,000 marines have taken up the offer of a vaccine. Democratic lawmakers want to make vaccination mandatory for marines.
According to CNN:
As of Thursday, approximately 75,500 Marines have received vaccines, including fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated service men and women. About 48,000 Marines have chosen not to receive vaccines, for a declination rate of 38.9%.
CNN has reached out to the other services for acceptance and declination rates. The corresponding acceptance rate for vaccinations among Marines (61 per cent) is not far off the military estimate of two-thirds, or about 66 per cent.
Another 102,000 Marines have not yet been offered the vaccines. The total number of Marines includes active-duty, reserves and Individual Mobilization Augmentee Marines.
Camp Lejeune in North Carolina is one of the more prominent US Marine Corps bases. It’s home to 26,400 Marines. 15,100 of them have declined a jab. That’s a massive 57 per cent who have said no thanks. Speaking to CNN, Marine Corps spokeswoman Col. Kelly Frushour said:
“We fully understand that widespread acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine provides us with the best means to defeat the pandemic. The key to addressing the pandemic is building vaccine confidence. Service members who decline one day can change their mind and become vaccinated when next the opportunity presents itself.”
The US Military cannot currently mandate the vaccines for soldiers as the jabs only have emergency use approval from the FDA and not full authorisation.
Last month, CNN reported that the rate of refusal in the military may be as high as 50 per cent. Opinion polls suggest that 25 per cent of all Americans are likely to refuse a vaccine.