Marine Corps say 92 percent of active-duty service members vaccinated as deadline passes

The Marine Corps on Thursday said that 92 percent of its active duty service members are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as of Wednesday as the deadline to be inoculated or have an exemption passed.

Ninety-five percent of its roughly 179,000 active-duty servicemen were at least partially vaccinated, the Corps said in an emailed press release.

In addition, 79 percent of Marine Corps reserve component service members are at least partially vaccinated, while 72 percent are fully inoculated, according to the release.

Active-duty members of the Marine Corps had until Nov. 28 to be fully vaccinated. The branch had previously been on track to have the lowest vaccination rate among all branches, though as of late last month still managed to have nearly 94 percent of its personnel at least partially vaccinated. 

The Marine Corps said that it has approved 362 requests for temporary medical exemptions and 15 permanent medical exemptions. It’s also approved 476 temporary administrative positions. 

However, the Marines said they’ve received 2,470 requests for religious accommodations over the mandate. The branch has processed 2,009 of those requests, none of which have been approved. 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered all service members to get vaccinated in late August, though left it up to each branch to set their own deadlines.

The first deadline — for active-duty Air Force and Space Command service members — was Nov. 2. Meanwhile, Air National Guard and reserve personnel had until Thursday to be inoculated.  

The deadline for active-duty Army troops to be fully vaccinated is Dec. 15, and National Guard and Reserve members have until June 30, 2022. 

Like the Marine Corps, the Navy also set a Nov. 28 deadline for active-duty servicemen to be vaccinated, while giving reservists until Dec. 28 to be inoculated.

Ninety-seven percent of the active-duty sailors have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, as of Monday, according to data the Navy released on Tuesday.  Overall, 96 percent of the entire 389,000-member force has received one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 94.9 percent are fully vaccinated.