Navy personnel prepare doses of the Covid-19 vaccine before the opening of a mass vaccination site ... [+] in the Queens borough of New York, on February 24, 2021. I strongly encourage all DoD military and civilian personnel - as well as contractor personnel - to get vaccinated now and for military Service members to not wait for the mandate,” Austin said. Key BackgroundThe Pentagon struggled with a slow vaccination campaign earlier this year, but the military’s partial vaccination rate reached 70% last month, Austin told reporters two weeks ago. Some officials are pushing for more of the country’s roughly 1.4 million uniformed military personnel to get vaccinated, pointing to the virus’ more contagious new delta variant and a risk of local outbreaks in parts of the world where the U.S. military operates. Further ReadingBiden Unveils Vaccine-Or-Test Mandate For All Federal Workers — Including Military (Forbes)Pentagon to require COVID vaccine for all troops by Sept. 15 (Associated Press)

Source: Forbes August 09, 2021 17:58 UTC