Navy: 70% Sailors Who Are Offered COVID Vaccine Have Accepted, As Service Campaigns for More Vaccinations - USNI News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By: Sam LaGrone
February 12, 2021 3:58 PM • Updated: February 12, 2021 10:00 PM
Out of the sailors who have been offered a vaccine for COVID-19, about 70 percent have taken the Navy up on the shots, according to information provided to USNI News by the service.
The rate, current as of late January, is better than the percentage of the national population who in December said they would get the vaccine if available, according to a December Journal of the American Medical Association study. Still, service leaders want a higher percentage of the sailors to accept the vaccine.
"We're trying to get the facts out there to dissuade the disinformation that's in social media and other places with respect to the safety of the vaccine," Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell told reporters late last month. "The [Chief of Naval Operations] and [Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy] were the first to roll up their sleeves for the Navy, and we made that very public."
The trick for leaders is to encourage sailors with a softer appeal because they can't order sailors to take the shot. The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are approved to be used under an emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, and short of a presidential order, the Pentagon can't compel troops to take the vaccine.
"We are doing a targeted survey of folks, a quick pulse survey. And we're with commands where we see a higher declination rate, to try and understand better why do you not want to take it?'," Nowell said. "There's myth, folklore and legend that you can't get pregnant. That's untrue. There's myth that it will change my DNA. That is untrue."
For naval units to preparing deploy, the incentive is to ensure they remain healthy enough to continue conducting their mission, U.S. 2nd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis told reporters on Friday.
The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are reporting a 90-percent take rate ahead of a planned deployment, while about 80 percent of sailors aboard the soon-to-deploy Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, or about 5,000 sailors, have said they'd take the vaccine this weekend, Lewis said.
"The Navy provided a proof of concept for vaccinating sailors pier-side when we vaccinated sailors and Marines attached to Iwo Jima ARG at Naval Station Norfolk," Rear Adm. Doug Beal, vice commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the Fleet Vaccination Cell lead, said in a Friday statement. "It was the first time a large group of personnel was vaccinated against COVID-19 outside of a hospital or [military treatment facilities] and aboard a ship."
The Navy is in the early phases of crafting additional incentives for sailors but hasn't locked down any specific initiatives.
"A lot of sailors that I know would much prefer being able to get a vaccine and then be safe to not have to do some of the other COVID risk-mitigation measures we put in place, like two-week quarantine," Nowell said.
How the Navy's numbers compare to the wider Pentagon aren't immediately apparent.
When asked by USNI News this week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the nature of the emergency FDA authorization made it difficult to track a global number.
"Because it's not compulsory, there's no central tracking system to keep track of those who are either refusing the vaccine or, in some cases, deferring their decision on the vaccine," he said.
In late January, Joint Staff Surgeon Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs said, "in general, the trends are very similar to what we're seeing in the U.S. population as a whole, that the older population has been more willing to take the vaccine. The younger population has been a bit more hesitant about it. … As we go forward and we educate our population about the safety of the vaccine, we hope and trust that that will allay some of the concerns."
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I find it amusing that this shot is now "optional".
Back in the 1980s, when it was time to deploy, you stood in line and got your shots.... period.
It would seem that the 70:30 ratio in the Navy reflects our nation as a whole.
The 90s were the same way regarding vaccinations and disease tests.
Ah yes... The disease tests!
I had a Corpsman buddy on my first cruise that said the medical department had a pool going on how many cases of the clap they were going to treat after our port visit to Subic Bay. If memory serves me the pool was in the thousands of dollars.
Our squadron CO threatened all personnel with loss of their security clearance, rank, and flight status if they were diagnosed as having "Damaged Government Property". I think everyone toed the line.....
"Short arm inspection?" Good times!
Ah, yeah boy, good old "Subic Bay." I remember well the command party held in one of the bars in Olongapo City-up to and touching the woman entertainer performing coins "tossing." That is about all I am willing to say about it. (The rest is sacred history.)
What happens in Po-City.... Stays in Po-City as most of it is prohibited in all 50 states!
AYE Sir! Greatest group of guys in a lifetime they were!
The trick for leaders is to encourage sailors with a softer appeal because they can't order sailors to take the shot. The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are approved to be used under an emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, and short of a presidential order, the Pentagon can't compel troops to take the vaccine.
Why not....this doesn't make sense.
When I enlisted way back in the day, shots weren't optional.
Shots weren't optional in the 1990s - early 2000s. Not sure when that policy changed.
Nor in the early 70's.
Looking at the picture that came with the article had me wandering if the military still uses jet injectors for these mass injection scenarios.
I remember being warned not to flinch when being shot with the durn things, that a sudden jerk could cause the compressed air to cut your arm like a razor slice.
I didn't move, but the corpsman that gave me the shot did, and gave me a 1/4" slice in basic. Got the shot and three stiches out of the deal. At least the corpsman was a standup person admitting to the cut.
What I remember was that the vials didn't seem to seal very well, and the liquid immunization seemed to be running down all over the gun and the corpsman's hand. Might have been why he slipped.
I got it with Old Hermit's image of a "vaccinator," I'm sure I remember seeing it-I think (1980). Ah! Good times. And today this is worse, so I'd imagine when cruise time comes up all the laggards will be expected to step up to the shot and take it like a "good" service personnel!
By the way, I adore the article image. That is what I am talking about on so many levels!