WASHINGTON: More than 68 per cent of the US active duty service members have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
“Over 68 percent of our active duty service members have received at least one [vaccine] dose,” Senior Adviser to the US Secretary of Defense Max Rose said during a press briefing. Dr. Terry Adirim, the acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs said case counts across the department are dropping and installation commanders have been reducing local health protection conditions.
“However, the delta variant poses a threat to that return to normal,” Adirim said. “We are particularly concerned with the impact of the delta variant on our unvaccinated or partially vaccinated population, and its potential spread at installations that are located in parts of the country with low vaccination rates.”
Studies have shown that one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine is only about 33 per cent effective against the delta variant, while two doses are at least 88 per cent effective, Adirim said.
Across the entire US Defense Department, including military personnel, family members, civilians and contractors, there have been 303,000 cases of COVID-19 and 355 deaths related to the disease.
Pentagon has also supported over 17 million vaccinations to Americans as well as an additional 4 million to its personnel, Rose added. Nearly 180 million Americans have been vaccinated with at least one does while 155 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (ANI)
