Why one third of US Troops may be refusing the COVID vaccine

U.S. troops are required to take many vaccinations before they enlist or deploy abroad, but the COVID-19 shot is still not among them. The terms of an “emergency use authorization” — the type of federal approval that governs the COVID-19 vaccines presently being distributed in the United States — prevent the Defense Department from requiring its administration.

But the lack of a mandate was a topic of concern in Congress on Wednesday, where members heard from senior military officials that around one-third of military personnel offered the vaccine have refused it. Changing that trend may require a direct order from the new commander in chief, President Joe Biden, and the reason has little to do with anti-vaxxer conspiracies.

Only two-thirds of troops offered the vaccine have taken it, Joint Staff Surgeon Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs told the House Armed Services Committee. About 359,000 troops have received their first vaccine dose; about 147,000 of those have received a second dose, said Robert Salesses, acting assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and global security.

Defense officials aren’t tracking why so many troops are turning down the vaccine.

“We don’t have a system in place across the services to specifically track data for those individuals who for whatever reason are declining or deferring the vaccine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing on Wednesday. ...

The hesitation by some personnel may have deeper roots than anti-vaxxer sentiments. It wasn’t all that long ago that the department required troops to take a vaccine that had far worse side effects than had previously been reported or tested.

More than 300,000 doses of the IND vaccine Anthrax Vaccine Absorbed (AVA) were distributed during Operation Desert Storm, probably to more than 150,000 service members. Years later, in 1997, Defense Secretary William Cohen launched the Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program, or  AVIP, in response to concerns about new biological weaponry. That program had 522,529 service members vaccinated with 2,098,544 doses of AVA by November 2001.

Many of these troops began reporting medically unexplained symptoms. A 2002 Government Accountability Office investigation showed that 85 percent of those who received the anthrax vaccine experienced adverse affects — more than double the rate that the vaccine manufacturer claimed. 

Today, a version of the anthrax vaccine that has faced decades of additional research is required for military personnel in certain occupational specialities. But the FDA’s special rule for the blanket waiving of informed consent has long been adjusted. Today, only the president can authorize it and under very specific circumstances, a power reaffirmed in the 1999 Defense Authorization Act. 

The Defense Department continues to face legal challenges from service members with medical conditions they believe are linked to the anthrax vaccine while carefully navigating the COVID-19 vaccines’ distribution to troops.  ...