Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has mandated the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for active troops.
Austin’s mandate, which was handed down on Wednesday, came two days after the Food and Drug Administration issued full approval of the two-dose jab, though it’s still unclear exactly when every service member must be vaccinated.
“I therefore direct the Secretaries of the Military Departments to immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority … who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” the memo reads.
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Seventy-six percent of the active armed forces are partially vaccinated, and 68% are fully vaccinated, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said during Wednesday’s briefing with reporters.
The Army has the lowest percentage of both partially, 57%, and fully vaccinated troops, 40%, including reserves, while the Navy has the best vaccination rates among the service branches, with 73% of sailors having been fully inoculated and 79% partially there.
The Marine Corps and the Air Force have similar vaccination rates, with 53% of active Marines having been fully vaccinated and 60% partially for the former and 57%, 64% for the latter.
“The secretary has made clear his expectation to the military departments that he wants them to move with some alacrity here and get the force fully vaccinated as fast as possible,” Kirby explained, when asked about when the troops would have to be vaccinated.
Austin is only mandating the Pfizer vaccine at this point. Mandating a vaccine that has not been fully authorized would require a waiver from President Joe Biden, and the president stated his support for such a move if a vaccine hadn’t been fully authorized.
The defense secretary announced earlier this month that he would seek such a waiver if the coronavirus vaccines had not received such approval by mid-September.
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“What the secretary has communicated to the military departments is to execute this mandatory vaccination program with, obviously, skill and professionalism, which we always do, but with a measure of compassion,” Kirby added.
A soldier may be exempt from taking the COVID-19 jab for medical or religious reasons.
