The military has a new problem

This is a place for veterans of military service to remember and reflect. War time or peace. Any service.

Moderators: DuncaninFrance, Niner Delta

Post Reply
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11522
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

The military has a new problem

Post by Niner » Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:43 pm

Back in the day, when you got into the Army among the first things that happened was you lined up and got a number of vaccinations. Sometimes you got one shot in your left arm and another in your right at the same time. However, the military now days is having a hard time getting personnel to take the Covid shots. For some reason troops have to consent to taking vaccinations now days. How times have changed.

AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

That’s higher than the rate for the general population, which a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation put at roughly 50%. But the significant number of forces declining the vaccine is especially worrisome because troops often live, work and fight closely together in environments where social distancing and wearing masks, at times, are difficult.

The military’s resistance also comes as troops are deploying to administer shots at vaccination centers around the country and as leaders look to American forces to set an example for the nation.

“We’re still struggling with what is the messaging and how do we influence people to opt in for the vaccine,” said Brig. Gen. Edward Bailey, the surgeon for Army Forces Command. He said that in some units just 30% have agreed to take the vaccine, while others are between 50% and 70%. Forces Command oversees major Army units, encompassing about 750,000 Army, Reserve and National Guard soldiers at 15 bases.

At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where several thousand troops are preparing for future deployments, the vaccine acceptance rate is about 60%, Bailey said. That’s “not as high as we would hope for front-line personnel,” he said.

Bailey has heard all the excuses.

“I think the most amusing one I heard was, ‘The Army always tells me what to do, they gave me a choice, so I said no’,” he said.

Service leaders have vigorously campaigned for the vaccine. They have held town halls, written messages to the force, distributed scientific data, posted videos, and even put out photos of leaders getting vaccinated.

For weeks, the Pentagon insisted it did not know how many troops were declining the vaccine. On Wednesday they provided few details on their early data.

Officials from individual military services, however, said in interviews with The Associated Press that refusal rates vary widely, depending on a service member’s age, unit, location, deployment status and other intangibles.
User avatar
Aughnanure
Moderator
Posts: 3131
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2005 5:59 am
Location: Glen Innes, NSW, Australia

Re: The military has a new problem

Post by Aughnanure » Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:38 pm

I well remember when the RSM took over the parade and announced that he was calling for volunteers to have an experimental flu shot.

Next order.
"'Tenshun"
"By the right, quick march"
straight to the RAP and the needle.

No fooiin' around!!
Self Defence is not only a Right, it is an Obligation.

Eoin.
Post Reply