Thousands of unvaccinated National Guards are at risk of dismissal

Up to 40,000 Army National Guard soldiers (or about 13% of the army) nationwide are not yet requiredCOVID-19Due to the impending deadline for shots, at least 14,000 people may categorically refuse and force a service outage.

Guards will need to get the vaccine until Thursday. 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 shooting.

Guard leaders say the state is doing everything it can to encourage soldiers to be vaccinated by the deadline. And they said they would work with about 7,000 people, almost all seeking exemptions for religious reasons.

"We intend to give all soldiers every opportunity to be vaccinated and continue their military career. Withholding exemptions All soldiers support them through their process. " "No one will give up until the separation is signed and completed. We still have time."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austinwas a member of all services last year —Ordering active, national guards and reserves — to obtain vaccines, strength health and preparation. The deadlines for units of military servicesvaried, and the Army National Guard is the most suitable for shooting, as it is a large unit consisting primarily of approximately 330,000 soldiers. I was given a long time. It is widely scattered all over the country, and many are located in remote areas.

The percentage of vaccines in the Army Guard is the lowest in the US Army, with over 97% of all active Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and about 94% of the Air Force Guard. The Army reported on Friday that 90% of the Army Reserves were partially or completely vaccinated.

Pentagon will not be paid by the federal government after June 30 if guard members are activated with federal status including a monthly drill weekend and a two-week annual training period. It states. 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 added complexity, guards on a state-revitalizing mission 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 to reconsider or not enforce vaccination requirements for members of the National Guard, and some governors have filed or signed a lawsuit. did. Austin declined in a letter to the Governor, stating that Coronavirus "temporarily or permanently frees our troops from battle and jeopardizes their ability to meet mission requirements." He said the guards would need to get a vaccine or lose their guard status.

Jensen, Major Jill Farris, and the Chief of Security for the Joint Surgeon, said they are working with state deputies to keep up to date with progress. I have not submitted any kind of exemption request. According to them, the self-report may be delayed or undecided.

"Some of those undefined are our soldiers who say they will take until June 30th because I have them until June 30th," Jensen said.

Others may have promised to bring in the paperwork for the vaccine, but haven't done so yet. Yet others are in the book, but haven't reported on basic training yet, so they don't need to be vaccinated until they get there. It is not clear how many are in each category.

Jensen said that if the current numbers are maintained, it could affect state Guard preparation, such as whether it would affect Guard units preparing for deployment. I admitted that I was concerned.

"When you're looking, 40,000 soldiers potentially in that unvamped category have absolute preparedness implications and concerns associated with it," Jensen said. .. "It's an important mass."

Overall, according to the data obtained by AP, about 85% of all Army Guard soldiers are fully vaccinated. According to people familiar with the matter, 87% of the one-shot people are at least partially vaccinated.

Nationwide, except in one case, guard soldiers are vaccinated at a higher rate than the general public in the state. As of the beginning of this month, when data was collected, only in New Jersey, the proportion of vaccinated Guard solder was slightly lower than the population of the entire state.

In the three regions of the United States (Virgin Islands, Guam and 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 ran a special shot program and provided the army with as much information as possible to keep them working.

In Tennessee, we formed small teams in the eastern, western and central regions and held monthly events to provide vaccines to the desired army. And every Wednesday, guards were able to book shots in central Tennessee in Smana. In addition, in early June they called on all soldiers who had so far refused the vaccine.

"We held a large, large-scale event," said Army Guard Captain Keith Evans. "There were all medical 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 Guard's medical readiness command, is a recruitment and other leader who can explain what happens if a soldier chooses not to be shot and leaves the guard. 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. Approximately 1,500 soldiers nationwide move into the vaccination category each week, Jensen said. "We expect to see even greater growth as we approach the deadline."

In:
• COVID-19 Vaccine
• US Army
• COVID-19