I know what you’re thinking, because I thought the same thing while reading this story. Doesn’t the Pentagon usually impose troop vaccinations?
Yes. But it can only order staff to get a hit if that hit has been fully approved by the FDA for the general public. Neither Pfizer nor Moderna received full approval; they received emergency clearance to hasten their availability amid a terrible crisis. This bureaucratic wrinkle means that the army’s hands are currently tied, even if protection against COVID is a matter of basic training. Until the FDA reaches full approval, the defense department remains blocked from immunizing instead of targeting them.
The rule limiting the Pentagon’s authority to impose vaccinations, unless they have been approved for public use, was designed, I suppose, to protect soldiers from being treated like a medical guinea pig for new pharmaceutical treatments by Uncle Sam. This is a good rule in the abstract, but one that has produced an absurd result for a product that has already been administered to nearly 50 million Americans on its way to delivery to the majority of the U.S. population by the end of the summer. No one is “experimenting” in the military with a mRNA vaccine at this time.
But the rules are rules and vaccine skeptics take advantage. And, as you might guess, the rejects are young.
About a third of active duty or National Guard troops refused to receive the vaccine, military officials recently told Congress. In some places, such as Fort Bragg, NC, the nation’s largest military facility, acceptance rates are below 50% …
While Pentagon officials say they do not collect specific data on those who refuse the vaccine, there is broad agreement that rejection rates are much higher among younger members, and enlisted staff are more likely to say no than officers. Military spouses seem to share this hesitation: in a December survey of 674 active family members conducted by Blue Star Families, a military advocacy group, 58% said they would not allow children to receive the vaccine. .
“I’d rather not be the one testing this vaccine,” [one airman] explained in an email. She also said that as access to vaccines became a campaign theme in the 2020 White House race, she was more skeptical and added that some of her colleagues had told him that he would rather leave the army than get the vaccine if it became mandatory.
Reports of older vaccinations in the DOD have been circulating for at least a month. The main reason why younger soldiers are more likely to refuse than older ones, I suppose, is that you are less likely to suffer debilitating effects from a COVID case at age 25 than at age 65. If you have been led to believe that the vaccine itself is risky, the reduced likelihood of getting seriously ill if you are infected will obviously affect your calculation of the risk. Younger bands probably spend more time online than older ones, exposing them to more anti-fax propaganda. (“Some of the concerns stem from widespread misinformation on Facebook and other social networks, including the false rumor that the vaccine contains a microchip designed to monitor recipients, that it will permanently disable the body’s immune system, or that it is a form of government control. ”) And as a matter of basic psychology, younger troops can enjoy an opportunity to rebel against Pentagon authority over them more than the brass they will normally exercise.
“What we’re seeing right now is similar to what we’re seeing across the United States, in the sense that there’s … a higher percentage of people who are older who opt for the vaccine and it’s trending with age,” he said. an Air Force general to the Military Times earlier this month. He is right. According to the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 77% of Americans over the age of 65 have received a stroke or intend to do so as soon as possible. But only 41% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 say the same thing.
Part of the vaccine’s hesitation may be specific to the military, such as memories of the side effects caused by the anthrax vaccine in the late 1990s. But much of this could be explained by simple demographics. If it is true that the military is more Republican than the general population, then it makes sense to be more skeptical about COVID vaccination. In total, 75% of Democrats in the general population got the first blow or will do so as soon as possible, according to the KFF poll mentioned above, but only 41% of Republicans will. The same survey shows that 41% of black Americans got a hit or intend to do so as soon as possible, compared to 61% of whites, and blacks are overrepresented in the military relative to their share of the total US population.
But if it is true that the military’s reluctance to vaccinate is largely a reflection of the general public, then there is room for optimism. Because the public is warming up to the idea of getting vaccinated:
As COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts continue in the United States, the latest KFF COVID-19 vaccine monitor reports that a majority (55%) of US adults now say they have received at least one dose of vaccine (18%) or will receive it as soon as possible (37%), up from 47% in January and 34% in December. The share of wanting to “wait and see” how the vaccine works for others before getting vaccinated themselves has dropped from 31% in January to 22% in February, while one in five persistently says they will receive the vaccine “only if necessary for work, school or other activities ”(7%) or“ certainly not ”will be vaccinated (15%).
Inevitably, as the number of vaccinations increases, some in the “wait and see” crowd will conclude that it must be safe or otherwise reports of serious side effects would be spread. The arrival of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine may also alleviate opposition:
The Pentagon’s difficulty in obtaining the purchase of vaccine fences is that it is a rigidly hierarchical organization that is excellent when you have the power to impose vaccinations, but possibly counterproductive when you are forced to persuade people. One researcher pointed out to the Times that the biggest factor in convincing someone to get a job is whether they know someone who received it personally, proof that trust – not pressure from the authorities – is the way to go. KFF data also proves this:
Arama can only do what it can do, which is why SecDef Lloyd Austin released the video embedded below a few days ago. But I wonder if it wouldn’t be more effective for police officers to try to identify the more popular members of their units and do what they can, through friendly persuasion, to persuade those soldiers to take the plunge. Having someone you like and trust many of your peers to set an example can have a “viral” effect on those around you in terms of their willingness to get vaccinated. That, plus an educational campaign on vaccine safety, may be the best the Pentagon can do until the FDA finally issues full approval of the shot, at which point it can be ordered to be shot.