Article author:
Associated Press
Lolita C. Baldor
Washington (AP) — Up to 40,000 Army National Guard (or about 13% of troops) nationwide have not yet acquired Due to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine and the imminent deadline for firing, at least 14,000 people may categorically refuse and force a service outage.
Guards must be vaccinated until Thursday. Also, according to data obtained by the Associated Press, 20% to 30% of guards in the six states have not been vaccinated, and more than 10% in the other 43 states still need injections.
Security leaders say the state is doing everything it can to encourage soldiers to be vaccinated by the time limit. And they said they would work with about 7,000 people, almost all seeking exemptions for religious reasons.
"We offer all soldiers all the opportunity to be vaccinated and continue their military career. All soldiers withholding tax exemptions have them through their process. "We will continue to support," Army National Guard Lieutenant General John Jensen said in an Associated Press interview. "No one will give up until we sign and complete the separation."
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said last year that all military personnel in active duty, National Guard, and reserves. He said it was important to order vaccination and maintain the health and readiness of the unit. Army National Guards were given the longest time to shoot, mostly because they were widely scattered throughout the country and were large armies of about 330,000 soldiers, many in remote areas.
The percentage of vaccines in the Army Guard is the lowest in the U.S. Army, with active Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps all at over 97%, and the Air Force Guard at around 94. %. The Army reported on Friday that 90% of the reserves were partially or completely vaccinated.
The Pentagon will pay from the federal government after June 30 if security guards are activated in federal status, including monthly training weekends and a two-week annual training period. He states that he will not receive it. Guards mobilized in federal status and assigned to COVID-19 missions on the southern border or in various states also need to be vaccinated. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to participate or pay.
However, for greater complexity, guards on state activation missions may not need to be vaccinated based on state requirements. As long as they are in state obligations, they are paid by the state and can be used for state missions.
At least seven governors have formally requested Austin not to reconsider or enforce vaccination obligations for National Guard members, and some governors have filed proceedings. Woke up or signed. In a letter to the Governor, Austin declined, saying that the coronavirus "temporarily or permanently frees our military personnel from battle and jeopardizes our ability to meet mission requirements." He said the guards would need to be vaccinated or lose their guard status.
Jensen, Maj. Gen. Jill Farris, and the Chief of the Security Forces, Joint Surgeon General, said they were working with the State's Deputy General to keep up-to-date with progress. I have not submitted any kind of exemption request. They said that some were just late in self-assessment, while others were undecided.
"Some of the undefined soldiers have until June 30th, so they say they will take it until June 30th," Jensen said. rice field.
Others have promised to bring in the vaccine paperwork and may not have done so yet. Yet others are in the book, but haven't reported on basic training yet, so they don't have to be vaccinated until they get there. It is not clear how many are in each category.
Jensen said that if the current number is maintained, it could affect the state's Guard preparation, such as whether it would affect the Guard units preparing for deployment. I admitted that I was concerned.
"When you are looking, the 40,000 soldiers potentially in that unvaccinated category have absolute implications and concerns for their associated preparations," Jensen said. rice field. "It's an important chunk."
Overall, according to the data obtained by AP, about 85% of all Army National Guard are fully vaccinated. Authorities said 87% were at least partially vaccinated, counting one vaccine.
Nationwide, except in one case, guards are vaccinated at a higher rate than the state's general population. As of the beginning of this month, when data was collected, the proportion of vaccinated Guard solder was slightly lower than the total population of the state only in New Jersey.
In all three US territories (Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico) and the District of Columbia, more than 90% of soldiers are fully vaccinated. The highest percentage is close to 97% in Hawaii and the lowest is just under 70% in Oklahoma.
The state guard commander carried out a special shooting program and provided as much information as possible to their army in order for them to continue their work.
In Tennessee, they formed small teams in the east, west, and central regions and held monthly events to provide vaccines to troops in need of vaccines. And every Wednesday, guards were able to book shots in central Tennessee in Smyrna. In addition, in early June they called on all soldiers who had ever refused the vaccine.
"We held a large-scale event," said Colonel Keith Evans, Army National Guard. "There were all healthcare providers here, so if there were any questions, misunderstandings, or misinformation that needed to be resolved, we could get all the data and provide all the information."
Evans, commander of the Army National Guard's medical readiness command, can explain what happens if a soldier chooses not to be shot and ends, recruitment and other Until the leader left the guard who said he was there too.
"Because they were soldiers who spent their time and served their country, I wanted to let them know what benefits they had," Evans said.
Officials say they believe the information campaign is working. Jensen said about 1,500 soldiers are moving to the vaccination category each week across the country. “We expect to see even greater growth as we approach the deadline.”