Nearly 40 percent of U.S. sailors reduce vaccinations against Covid-19, according to data provided Friday by CNN, the first branch to disclose service-level numbers on acceptance and decline.
As of Thursday, about 75,500 sailors have received vaccines, including fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated men and women on duty. About 48,000 sailors chose not to receive vaccines, for a 38.9% decline.
CNN contacted other services for acceptance and decline rates.
The appropriate acceptance rate for vaccinations among Marines – 61.1% – is not far from the military estimate of two-thirds, or about 66%.
Another 102,000 Marines have not yet received the vaccines. The total number of marines includes active services, reserves and individual mobilization of Augmentee Marines.
The rate of decline at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, one of the Marine Corps’ prominent bases, was much higher at 57 percent, according to another dataset provided to CNN. Of the 26,400 Marines who were offered vaccinations, 15,100 chose not to receive them, a number that includes both the Second Navy Expeditionary Force and the Eastern Navy Corps Installation – Lejeune Camp. Another 11,500 active sailors are scheduled to be offered the vaccines.
“We fully understand that widespread acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine gives us the best means to defeat the pandemic. The key to addressing the pandemic is to strengthen confidence in the vaccine,” Navy Corps spokesman Colonel Kelly Frushour told CNN.
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