Nearly 40 percent of U.S. Marines are declining Covid-19 vaccines, according to data provided Friday to CNN by the service, the first branch to reveal service numbers in acceptance and decline.
As of Thursday, approximately 75,500 Marines have received vaccines, including fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated men and women. Some 48,000 sailors have chosen not to receive vaccines, with a decline rate of 38.9%.
CNN has contacted the other services to obtain acceptance and decline rates.
The corresponding acceptance percentage for vaccines among seafarers (61.1%) does not deviate from the military estimate of two-thirds, or approximately 66%.
Another 102,000 Marines have not yet been offered the vaccines. The total number of marines includes active duty marines, Augmentee reserves and individual mobilization.
The rate of decline at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, one of the Marine Corps ’main bases, was much higher, at 57%, according to another data set provided to CNN. Of the 26,400 sailors who have been offered vaccines, 15,100 have chosen not to receive them, a number that includes both the II Marine Expeditionary Force and the Installation of the Marine Corps to the East – Camp Lejeune. Vaccines are expected to be offered to another 11,500 active marine children.
“We fully understand that widespread acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine provides us with the best means to overcome the pandemic. The key to dealing with the pandemic is to build confidence in the vaccine,” he told CN Frowour television. Marine Corps spokesman.
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