Lawmakers ask Biden to issue a waiver to make vaccination with Covid-19 mandatory for military personnel

Lawmakers ask Biden to issue a waiver to make vaccination with Covid-19 mandatory for military personnel

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CNN obtained a copy of the letter, sent on Wednesday by a Congressional aide.

Currently, the Department of Defense cannot make vaccines mandatory because they were only authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. A resignation from the president could circumvent this rule.

Seven Democratic members of Congress signed the letter, including the House Rules Committee chairman, Mr James McGovern, and the House Armed Services Committee members, Mr Jimmy Panetta, Mrs Marilyn Strickland, Mrs Sara Jacobs and deputy Marc Veasey. Rep. Panetta is the son of former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Deputy Cindy Axne and Deputy Jahana Hayes, who do not serve on the Chamber’s Armed Services Committee, also signed the letter.

The Department of Defense has publicly said that the exclusion rate among military personnel eligible for vaccination is around 33%, but last week military officials and CNN service members spoke with various bases and units across the country suggest that the current rate rejection rate can be closer to 50%.
US military says that a third of the troops choose not to be vaccinated, but the numbers suggest that it is more

“I think the real rate of membership now would probably be around 50 percent,” said a military health source on the figures at a military base of about 40,000 soldiers on active duty. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss vaccines.

The letter says that “vaccine misinformation and skepticism” are influencing service members to choose not to be vaccinated. He acknowledges that the Pentagon has “made admirable efforts to educate service members about the safety and efficacy” of vaccines, but says these measures have been “overcome by the misinformation that dominates social media”.

The Department of Defense has approximately 2.2 million military personnel operating worldwide. Last year, the military experienced a handful of high-profile outbreaks, including one on board an aircraft carrier deployed in the Pacific.

Last April, a Covid-19 outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt affected more than 20% of the crew on board the aircraft carrier and led to the eventual dismissal of the ship’s captain. In November, more than 100 US military installations around the world implemented some form of stricter health measures to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.

“We request that you issue this exemption quickly to give DOD the necessary authority to ensure readiness in the face of current and future threats,” the letter states.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

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