A12 EZ RE the washington post.monday, november 22 , 2021
Covid-19 deaths among U.S. military members
irty-two service member deaths, more than half of all since the
pandemic began, happened in August and September of 2021.5
10
15
20
April
2020July Oct. Jan.
2021April July Oct.
Data through Oct. 7, 2021
Source: Department of Defense THE WASHINGTON POST“We’re a pretty small force, and we have to make
sure that everybody on the team is ready to go.”
David H. Berger, commandant of the Marine Corpscombat-ready forces — and mark-
ing the latest showdown over
President Biden’s authority to
impose vaccination as a condi-
tion of continued government
service.
“Marines know they’re an ex-
peditionary force and pride
themselves on discipline and be-
ing first to fight,” said David
Lapan, a retired Marine Corps
officer and former communica-
tions chief for the service. Lead-
ers, he said, should be alarmed
that the Marine Corps ethos of
always being ready for the next
mission appears to be tarnished
in this case. “Why,” Lapan asked,
“did they decide not to follow a
direct order?”
Answering that question will
be essential, he added, “if this is
somehow indicative of a prob-
lem” that could arise again in the
future.
The Marine Corps made no
secret it has struggled with vac-
cine hesitancy in the ranks. Late
last month, officials issued an
ultimatum: get vaccinated, apply
for an exemption or get kicked
out.
Then, as the cutoff to be in
compliance drew near, the Ma-
rines’ top general, Commandant
David H. Berger, and his senior
enlisted adviser, Sgt. Maj. Troy E.
Black, distributed a video mes-
sage to the force imploring those
who had not been vaccinated to
get it done. They appealed to
Marines’ sense of fidelity and
calmly explained that the Marine
Corps would be less capable un-
less everyone met the require-
ment.
“When something bad hap-
pens around the world and the
president says, ‘I need to know
how long it’s going to take to get
Marines there,’ it’s too late then to
get vaccinated,” Berger said in the
video.
“It’s challenging for us to be
able to continue the mission,”
Black added, “if we’re not ready
to go.”
Berger spoke last: “We need
every single Marine in the unit to
be vaccinated. We don’t have
extra Marines. We’re a pretty
small force, and we have to make
sure that everybody on the team
is ready to go all the time. That’s
our job.”
vaccines from A1 The Marine Corps is the U.S.
military’s least populous branch
of service. Numbering about
183,000, it’s roughly one-third
the size of the active-duty Army
but fills a significant role within
the Defense Department’s portfo-
lio. Whenever there’s a high-
stakes emergency overseas —
such as the hasty evacuation
from Afghanistan this past sum-
mer — Marines are often among
the first U.S. personnel to set foot
in harm’s way.
Importantly, the service’s coex-
istence within the Navy Depart-
ment means Marines routinely
operate from ships at sea, living
in close, enclosed spaces where
the virus can spread readily. Navy
data shows that 99.7 percent of
sailors have received at least one
shot of a coronavirus vaccine
ahead of the same Nov. 28 dead-
line — the top figure among all
military services.
The general’s message, circu-
lated Nov. 8, appears to have
made little impact. At that time,
the Marine Corps’ partial vacci-
nation rate — an indicator of
newly obtained shots — was 94
percent and remained un-
changed as of Wednesday, ac-
cording to official data. The rate
slowed in recent weeks overall,
indicating the pool of Marines
who intended to comply has all
but dried up.
A spokesperson for Berger de-
clined to comment, pending a
final tally.
Capt. Andrew Wood, a Marine
Corps spokesman at the Penta-
gon, would not address questions
about the service’s vaccination
rate. He issued a written state-
ment instead. “The Marine Corps
has always recognized the threats
posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic
as a readiness issue, which is why
we have consistently emphasized
the importance of receiving the
vaccine,” it said. “We are still
ready to fight and win our na-
tion’s battles should we be
called.”
It’s unclear how many unvacci-
nated Marines have requested
medical or religious exemptions,
or how many of those requests
have been granted, but such cases
are expected to be exceptionally
rare. The Navy has granted six
permanent medical exemptions
and no religious exemptions —
for any vaccine — in the past
seven years, officials said. The
Army has granted just one per-
manent medical exemption and,
like the Navy, zero religious ex-
emptions, the service said. The
Army’s compliance deadline is
Dec. 15 — the last for active-duty
personnel — and 95 percent of
soldiers have received at least one
dose of a vaccine, service data
shows.
Air Force officials are process-
ing about 4,800 religious exemp-
tion requests but so far have not
approved any. Nearly 1,400 air-
men have received medical ex-
emptions, but most are tempo-
rary, said Ann Stefanek, an Air
Force spokeswoman. Temporary
medical exemptions can be is-
sued when someone has a cur-
rent coronavirus infection and is
awaiting a doctor’s authorization
to be vaccinated. Its vaccination
deadline was Nov. 2.
Wood said Marine Corps data
on refusals and exemptions
would be made available after the
deadline passes.
Guidance from the military
services outlines escalating pun-
ishment for vaccine refusers,
starting with counseling from
commanders and moving on to
letters of reprimand and ulti-
mately dismissal from the serv-
ice. Navy Secretary Carlos Del
Toro told reporters Thursday that
each Marine refusing a vaccine
will be addressed on a case-by-
case basis.
“We’re just not going to all kick
them out on the day of the
deadline itself,” he said, predict-
ing “minimal impact on our over-
all readiness.”
The military’s vaccine man-
date has energized conservative
politicians eager to challenge
Biden’s directives covering pri-
vate businesses as well as govern-
ment workers. Some predicted an
exodus from the ranks and
warned of crippling strains on
the defense industrial base.
Earlier this month, Oklahoma
Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) took the
extraordinary step of firing the
state’s National Guard com-
mander and ordering his replace-
ment to make vaccination op-
tional while personnel are under
state control. Other states have
expressed interest in enacting
similar policies.
Vaccination rates throughout
much of the National Guard andreserves remain well below those
of the active-duty force. These
units tend to be less connected to
the rigid top-down environment
that governs daily life on active
duty. Military analysts also asso-
ciate vaccine hesitancy among
service members with the circu-
lation of false information on-
line, broader political and soci-
etal attitudes, and cultural traits
unique to each service.
Marines, on average, are
younger, predominantly male
and — like many enlisted person-
nel throughout the armed forces
— generally don’t have four-year
college degrees, according to
2018 Pentagon data. All of those
factors contribute to lower vacci-
nation rates in the broader U.S.
population by some degree, ac-
cording to government data and
surveys. And compared with ci-
vilians in the same age range,
Marines generally are more phys-
ically fit and thus may simply
doubt the need to be vaccinated.
For the Marine Corps leader-
ship, much of the concern now
will turn to whether unvaccinat-
ed Marines are congregated in
certain units, Lapan said. That
would affect how drastically com-
manders may need to rebalance
their personnel to ensure deploy-
ment standards.
Some highly deployable units
appear to have overcome those
issues. The crisis-response unit
that supported the emergency
evacuation from Kabul in August
was 98 percent vaccinated
months before then, officials
said.
But overall, the disparity in
Marines’ vaccination rate com-
pared with those of other services
“seems to indicate a failure of
leadership to get ahead of the
vaccine hesitation within their
own ranks,” said Rachel E. Van-
Landingham, a former Air Force
lawyer and president of the Na-
tional Institute of Military Jus-
tice.
Berger, speaking at a national
security conference this month,
appeared to acknowledge the be-
havioral pattern is worrisome.
“We’re challenged by disinfor-
mation.... I’m concerned about
it because we have to be ready to
go every day,” he said. “We are
taught that your unit is more
important than you are.”
[email protected]Marine Corps says vaccine hesitancy won’t affect readiness
John Bazemore/associated press
Among the military services, the Marine Corps is on track to have
the worst vaccination rate, with up to 10,000 forgoing the shot.SARA NELSON
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