US military says a third of troops opt out of being vaccinated, but the numbers suggest it’s more

By Oren Liebermann and Ellie Kaufman, CNN

(CNN)Despite a massive effort by the Pentagon to promote the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, the US military’s opt-out rate for vaccinations may be far higher than the 33% figure defense officials have used publicly.

Conversations with military medical officials and service members, as well as data from several bases and units around the country, suggest the current rejection rate may be closer to 50%.

“I think the true opt-in rate right now would probably be around 50-ish percent,” said a military healthcare source about numbers on a military base of some 40,000 active duty troops. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss vaccinations.

A second military healthcare source covering a different region told CNN of the same trend. Those percentages are “consistent” with what they’re seeing, the source told CNN.
The acceptance rate at Fort Bragg, one of the military’s largest bases with about 57,000 military personnel, was just below 60%, an army official said Friday. It was below 50% last month, but it has been slowly rising.

The Defense Department has approximately 2.2 million service members operating around the globe. For every 10% drop in the acceptance rate, that’s 220,000 individuals opting not to receive a vaccine, a number potentially large enough to affect force readiness. Last year, the military experienced a handful of high profile outbreaks, including one aboard an aircraft carrier deployed in the Pacific.

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