Nearly 40 percent of U.S. Marines drop COVID-19 vaccinations, according to a new report.
About 75,500 sailors received the vaccines, CNN reported Friday. But another 48,000 Marines refused the blows. This means that of the total number of Marines who have offered so far, 38.9 percent say no.
Another 102,000 sailors have not yet received vaccines.
These statistics are even darker than the February reports which suggest that, in general, about a third of military personnel refuse to be vaccinated.
At the time, Air Force General Jeff Taliaferro, the deputy chief of operations of the General Staff, told a group of members of Congress that soldiers needed education “to help them understand the benefits” of the vaccine.
As of April 9, there were 273,503 cases of COVID-19 in the Department of Defense, according to Military.com.
Part of the reason why decline rates are so high among service members is that vaccinations for COVID-19 are not yet mandatory, and those who refuse the vaccine may still be deployed.
“We have already demonstrated in the last year that we are fully capable of operating in a COVID environment,” Taliaferro said in February.
In a statement to CNN, Marine Corps spokeswoman Colonel Kelly Frushour said she was focusing on “building confidence in vaccines” among staff.
“We fully understand that widespread acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine provides us with the best means to overcome the pandemic.”
