Defense Officials Call COVID-19 Vaccination Effort 'Enormously Successful,' But Holdouts Remain

San Diego CA

18 December, 2021

11:00 AM

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By Editor, Times of San Diego December 17, 2021 The government reported this week that nearly 2 million service members are fully inoculated or have received at least one shot of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccines. "By any measure, the vaccination process in the military has been enormously successful," according to the Department of Defense. More than 6.5 million shots have been administered to almost 1.92 million service members, officials said. The Navy's deadline for full vaccination was Nov. 28. Last month, Navy officials reported that 95% of the active-duty force is fully vaccinated, with over 99% having received at least one shot. In the Army's figures, released Thursday, 468,459 active-component soldiers, 98% of the force, had been vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition, Army officials said 96% of active-duty soldiers had been fully vaccinated. The service is still processing exemption requests. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III made vaccinations mandatory for service members. The Army deadline was Wednesday. Deadlines for reserve component service members are in June. Service members who refuse the vaccine will be administratively discharged. The Air Force discharged 27 service members earlier this week for refusing the vaccine. The Army will not begin discharging those who refuse until next month. The Washington Post reported two weeks ago that 19,000 sailors and Marines had refused the vaccine, and cited the Marine Corps as the service branch with the least number of vaccinated members. Austin sees the vaccination process as a readiness issue, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said, calling the shots "the best way (for service members) to protect themselves and their units." "That's the readiness concern with getting the vaccine vaccination rate as close to 100% as possible," he added. Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.