Army National Guard vaccine mandate deadline this week

Up to 40,000 Guardsmen not vaccinated yet as deadline looms

WASHINGTON (AP) – Up to 40,000 Army National Guard soldiers haven’t yet gotten the mandated COVID-19 vaccine.

That’s about 13% of the force.

And as the deadline for shots nears, at least 14,000 of them have flatly refused and could be forced out of the service.

Guard soldiers have until this coming Thursday to get the vaccine.

Data obtained by The Associated Press shows that between 20% to 30% of the Guard soldiers in six states aren’t vaccinated and more than 10% in 43 other states still need shots.

Guard leaders say states are doing all they can to encourage soldiers to get vaccinated by the time limit.