Pentagon: One-third of US Military Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine

FILE - In this photo taken in October 2018, the Pentagon is seen from an airplane over Washington, DC. AFP
FILE - In this photo taken in October 2018, the Pentagon is seen from an airplane over Washington, DC. AFP
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Pentagon: One-third of US Military Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine

FILE - In this photo taken in October 2018, the Pentagon is seen from an airplane over Washington, DC. AFP
FILE - In this photo taken in October 2018, the Pentagon is seen from an airplane over Washington, DC. AFP

Pentagon officials said Wednesday that about one-third of the US military are declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, despite significant coronavirus infection levels in the forces.

Major General Jeff Taliaferro revealed the high refusal rate in Congressional hearing, as the US Defense Department continues to classify COVID vaccines as optional because they have yet to receive full approval from the Federal Drug Administration.

"Acceptance rates are somewhere in the two-thirds territory," said Taliaferro, stressing that the figure is based on "very early data."

Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said that there was no detailed military-wide data on vaccinations, but said more than 916,500 had been administered so far.

Kirby said the level of refusal is on par with that of the general population, where the vaccine has not been offered nearly as widely.

"We in the military basically mirror the acceptance rates of American society," Kirby told reporters.

The government has tapped the military and National Guard to help vaccinate the general public people.

Kirby said that by the end of this week, more than one million members of the military will have received vaccine shots.

The Pentagon makes most standard vaccinations mandatory for military personnel.

But because the COVID vaccines have only been approved on an emergency basis, they cannot be forced on people, AFP quoted Kirby as saying.

"There is a real limit, legally, that we have, to make it mandatory for our troops and their families."

He noted that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has received the vaccine.

"What the secretary wants is for the men and women of the department to make the best and most informed decision for them and their health and the health of their families," Kirby said.



North Korea's Kim Fires New Sniper Rifle while Visiting Troops

This picture taken on April 4, 2025 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on April 5, 2025 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (C) looking through a rifle scope as he visits a training base of the Korean People's Army's special operations forces to observe a comprehensive training session, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on April 4, 2025 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on April 5, 2025 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (C) looking through a rifle scope as he visits a training base of the Korean People's Army's special operations forces to observe a comprehensive training session, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
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North Korea's Kim Fires New Sniper Rifle while Visiting Troops

This picture taken on April 4, 2025 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on April 5, 2025 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (C) looking through a rifle scope as he visits a training base of the Korean People's Army's special operations forces to observe a comprehensive training session, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on April 4, 2025 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on April 5, 2025 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (C) looking through a rifle scope as he visits a training base of the Korean People's Army's special operations forces to observe a comprehensive training session, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has test-fired a newly developed sniper rifle, state media said Saturday, as he inspected special forces whose training he said bolstered "actual war capability for guaranteeing victory".

Such units are among the thousands of troops that South Korea's spy agency says Pyongyang has deployed to Russia to support Moscow's war against Ukraine.

During the visit to a special operations unit on Friday, Kim said the "actual war capability for guaranteeing victory in the war field is bolstered up through intensive training," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

He added that their training is "the most vivid expression of patriotism and loyalty to the country," according to the agency.

Images released by state media showed Kim peering through the scope of a sniper rifle that KCNA said was going to be "newly supplied to special operation units".

Other images showed him pointing to the bullseye of a target, crouching alongside heavily camouflaged soldiers, and smiling and waving to troops.

Kim supervised "automatic rifle firing drills and sniper rifle firing drills" and, after personally test-firing the weapon, expressed "great satisfaction over the performance and power of the sniper rifle developed in our own way", KCNA said.

Kim's visit to the special forces came on the same day that South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld president Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment over his disastrous martial law declaration, booting him from office and triggering fresh elections.

Yoon had defended his December 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule as necessary to root out "anti-state forces" and what he claimed were threats from North Korea.

KCNA reported Yoon's dismissal for the first time on Saturday, citing foreign media.

South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is seen as a frontrunner in the next election, experts say, and his party has taken a more conciliatory approach towards North Korea.

US President Donald Trump, who met Kim three times during his first administration, said this week that he is in "communication" with Kim and intends to "do something at some point", according to Seoul's Yonhap news agency.