Up to 40,000 Army National Guard members nationwide, or roughly 13% of the force, have not yet received the required COVID-19 vaccination. As the deadline for vaccinations approaches, at least 14,000 of them have vehemently objected and may be discharged from the military.
Soldiers of the Guard have till Thursday to receive the shot. Additionally, data collected by The Associated Press shows that more than 10% of Guard members in 43 other states still require vaccinations, while between 20 and 30 percent of Guard members in six states are not immunised.
Every soldier will be given the chance to receive a vaccination and continue their military service. According to Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, commander of the Army National Guard, ‘we will continue to support every member who is pending an exemption through their process.’ ‘Until the separation paperwork is finalised and finished, we won’t give up on anyone. Time is still available.
Last year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued an order requiring all active-duty, National Guard, and Reserve military members to receive the vaccine, citing its importance to the force’s overall health and readiness. The timelines for the armed services’ troops varied, and the Army National Guard was given the most time to prepare, mostly because it is a sizable force with roughly 330,000 men who are dispersed around the nation, many of them are in rural areas.
The Army Guard has the lowest vaccination rate in the U.S. military, with the Air Guard coming in at around 94 percent and all of the regular duty Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps at 97 percent or higher. 90% of Army Reserve personnel were fully or partially immunised, according to a data released by the Army on Friday.
After June 30, the federal government will no longer pay Guard personnel when they are active on federal status, which includes their monthly drill weekends and their two-week annual training session, according to the Pentagon. Guard troops mobilised under federal authority and sent to the southern border or to COVID-19 missions across several states would likewise need to be immunised in order to participate and be paid.
However, depending on the laws in their states, Guard members serving on state activated duty may not be required to receive a vaccination. They can be paid by the state and used for state missions as long as they are still in the status of state duty.
A minimum of seven governors formally requested Austin to reevaluate or not enforce the vaccination requirement for National Guard soldiers, and some have filed or joined lawsuits. The coronavirus ‘takes our service members out of the fight, temporarily or permanently, and jeopardises our capacity to achieve mission objectives,’ Austin wrote in letters to the governors, declining to accept their offer. He stated that Guard members must receive the shot in order to maintain their Guard status.
Jensen and Maj. Gen. Jill Faris, director of the Joint Surgeon General’s office for the Guard, stated that they are collaborating with state adjutants general to obtain information on the status of the almost 20,000 personnel who are not flat refusals and have not made any requests for exemptions. They claimed that some could simply be a self-reporting delay and that others might still be unsure.
Our warriors who say, ‘Well, I have until 30 June and so I’ll take till 30 June,’ added Jensen, ‘are part of those undefined.’
Others might have made empty promises to bring in vaccination records but haven’t yet. Others are listed but haven’t reported for basic training yet, so they can wait to get their shots until they do. The number of each group is unclear.
Jensen noted that there are worries about the potential impact on Guard readiness in the states, especially if it will influence any Guard units planning to deploy, if the current numbers persist.
‘There are ramifications for readiness and problems associated with that when you’re looking at, say, 40,000 soldiers who may fall into that unvaccinated category,’ said Jensen. ‘That’s a large portion.’
Approximately 85% of all Army Guard personnel have received all recommended vaccinations, according to data gathered by the AP. According to officials, 87 percent of people who have had one injection are at least somewhat immunised.
In all but one state throughout the nation, Guard members receive their immunizations more frequently than the local populace. As of earlier this month, when the data was gathered, only in New Jersey is the percentage of immunised Guard soldiers very slightly lower than the state’s entire population.
More than 90% of the soldiers in the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico have had all three required vaccinations. Hawaii has the highest percentage—nearly 97 percent—and Oklahoma has the lowest—just under 70 percent.
In order to keep their soldiers on the job, guard leaders in the United States have implemented specialised shot programmes and given their troops as much information as possible.
In Tennessee, they established small teams in the east, west, and centre districts and conducted regular events where they gave soldiers who requested vaccinations. Additionally, Guard members could schedule appointments for vaccinations in Smyrna, in middle Tennessee, every Wednesday. Additionally, they summoned in those soldiers who had previously refused the vaccination at the beginning of June.
Army Guard Col. Keith Evans declared, ‘We hosted a large, public celebration.’ ‘All of our medical professionals were present. We therefore had all of our data and were able to give them all the facts if there were any queries, misunderstandings, or misinformation that needed to be cleared up.
Evans, who is in charge of the medical readiness command for his Army Guard, said there were also recruiting and other leaders present who could explain what would happen if soldiers decided against getting the shot and ultimately left the Guard.
Because these troops had put in their time and had given their country their all, we wanted to let them know what advantages they had earned, said Evans.
The information campaign, according to officials, has been successful. According to Jensen, 1,500 soldiers nationwide get vaccinated on average every week. ‘We anticipate seeing some significant growth as the deadline draws closer.’
Post Your Comments