总统预计将宣布对联邦雇员的新疫苗要求乔·拜登一名五角大楼高级官员周三告诉美国广播公司新闻,周四“非常好”可能意味着需要军队来完成射击。但如果没有,那可能也只是时间问题。
因为新冠肺炎疫苗根据食品药品监督管理局的紧急使用授权(EUA),军队可以使用,到目前为止,射击完全是自愿的。
五角大楼新闻秘书约翰·柯比本月早些时候告诉记者:“它没有得到FDA的批准,因此,它仍然是一种自愿接种的疫苗。“我想补充的是,就在我们说话的时候,几乎69%的国防部人员已经接受了至少一剂。这还不错。”
根据以下数据,到上周,完全接种疫苗的军队比例已经超过了70%数据来自国防部。这大大高于疾病控制和预防中心估计占美国总人口的49%。
虽然国防部不能独立决定强迫服役人员接种未经完全批准的疫苗,但总统“可以在某些情况下放弃武装部队成员接受或拒绝EUA产品管理的选择权”相应的美国食品和药物管理局。
拜登周二表示,联邦授权“正在考虑中”,知情人士告诉美国广播公司新闻,总统可能会宣布要求联邦雇员接种疫苗,否则将遵守“严格的新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)像强制戴口罩这样的协议——即使是在传播度不高或没有大规模传播的社区——和定期检测。"
周三,当美国广播公司新闻白宫记者卡伦·特拉弗斯抵达宾夕法尼亚州艾伦镇时,总统在这个问题上提出了异议。
拜登回答说:“我今天说的是美国制造,这就是我要说的全部。“明天你想聊什么我就聊什么,包括COVID。”
如果拜登没有将服务成员纳入联邦工作人员的授权中,一个人可能还是会晚一点来。
五角大楼官员公开表示,在美国食品和药物管理局完全批准疫苗后,他们将考虑要求COVID疫苗接种,就像十几种其他疫苗一样。
副海军上将约翰·诺埃尔在市政厅问答视频中对一名水手说:“我相信,当它正式获得批准时(我们预计很快就会批准),我们可能会去做,然后这个问题就会变得没有意义。”张贴上个月去脸书。
7月1日《陆军时报》据报告的该命令称,它获得了一份陆军内部备忘录,称指挥官应“准备一份指令,要求服役人员在2021年9月1日(或前后)接种新冠肺炎疫苗,等待美国食品和药物管理局的全面许可”。
“作为一项政策,我们不对泄露的文件发表评论。疫苗仍然是自愿的,”陆军发言人杰基·雷恩少校告诉美国广播公司新闻。“如果国防部指示我们改变姿态,我们准备这样做。”
前国防部副助理部长、美国广播公司新闻分析师米克·马尔罗伊(Mick Mulroy)表示,证据应该能决定这个问题。
“战备一直是任何军队的关键组成部分,尤其是像美国这样远征的军队。自从疫苗存在以来,它们一直是战备能力的一部分,”马尔罗伊说。“如果疾控中心和国防部的医疗专业人员确定保护我们的部队免受COVID及其所有变体的影响是安全和关键的,那么这应该是这个问题的决定性因素。”
到目前为止,五角大楼还没有宣布未来的任何官方决定。
柯比在周二对美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中说:“我们使用疫苗作为自愿保护措施的做法没有改变。“我们继续敦促该部门的每个人接种疫苗。”
一名国防官员周三证实,这一立场没有改变。
Biden's vaccine requirement could 'very well' require troops to get the shot
New vaccine requirements for federal employees expected to be announced by PresidentJoe BidenThursday "very well" could mean troops will be required to get the shot, a senior Pentagon official told ABC News on Wednesday. But if not, it still may only be a matter of time.
Because COVID-19vaccinesare available to the military under the Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization (EUA), the shot has so far been strictly voluntary.
"It is not FDA approved, and therefore, it is still a voluntary vaccine," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters earlier this month. "I would like to add that as we speak, almost 69% of DOD personnel have received at least one dose. That's not bad."
By last week, the proportion of fully vaccinated troops had risen past 70%, based ondatafrom the Department of Defense. That's significantly higher than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention'sestimateof 49% for the U.S. population as a whole.
While the DOD can't independently decide to force service members to take a vaccine that isn't fully approved, the president "may under certain circumstances waive the option for members of the armed forces to accept or refuse administration of an EUA product,"accordingto the FDA.
Biden said Tuesday that a federal mandate is "under consideration" and sources familiar with the discussion told ABC News the president is likely to announce federal employees will be required to be vaccinated, or else abide by "stringentCOVID-19protocols like mandatory mask wearing -- even in communities not with high or substantial spread -- and regular testing."
The president demurred on the issue when asked by ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers as he arrived in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday.
"I'm talking about made in America today, that's all I'm going to talk about," Biden replied. "Tomorrow I'll talk about whatever you want to talk about, including COVID."
If Biden doesn't include service members in a mandate for federal workers, one could still come later.
Pentagon officials have publicly said they would consider requiring COVID vaccinations, as is done with more than a dozen other vaccines, after the FDA fully approves the vaccines.
"I believe that when it's formally approved, which we expect pretty soon, we probably will go to that, and then that question will kind of be moot," Vice Adm. John Nowell told a sailor in a town hall question-and-answer videopostedto Facebook last month.
On July 1 the Army Timesreportedit had obtained an internal Army memo that said commanders should "prepare for a directive to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for service members (on or around) 01 September 2021, pending full FDA licensure," the order said.
"As a matter of policy we do not comment on leaked documents. The vaccine continues to be voluntary," Maj. Jackie Wren, an Army spokesperson told ABC News. "If we are directed by DOD to change our posture, we are prepared to do so."
Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense and ABC News analyst, said evidence should determine the issue.
"Readiness has always been a key component of any military, especially one as expeditionary as the U.S. Ever since the existence of vaccines they have been a part of the readiness capability," Mulroy said. "If the medical professionals in the CDC and the DOD determine it is safe and critical to protect our force from COVID and all its variants, then that should be dispositive on the issue."
So far, the Pentagon has not announced any official decisions for the future.
"There has been no change to our use of the vaccine as a voluntary measure of protection," Kirby said in a statement to ABC News Tuesday. "We continue to urge everyone in the department to get vaccinated."
A defense official confirmed on Wednesday that this stance has not changed.