Hampton Roads’ sailors, soldiers, airmen and Coast Guardsmen are far outpacing civilians when it comes to getting vaccinated against COVID 19, with the percentage of fully vaccinated set to approach or exceed 90% this week.
Leaders from the region’s bases reported those numbers at a roundtable called by Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Newport News.
“Probably like a lot of you, I thought everyone I knew was vaccinated, but it really hit me in the face a couple of weeks ago,” when three family members missed his daughter’s wedding because they were not fully vaccinated, Warner said.
Those rates far exceed overall vaccination rates for the region, which range from a low of 41% in Norfolk to 61% in James City County, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
The Department of Defense has ordered service members to get vaccinated, unless they have a valid medical reason why they shouldn’t, or a religious objection. The Biden Administration has ordered federal employees to be vaccinated as well.
Warner said he felt the mandate has been effective, but added that generally vaccination percentages needed to be in the high 90s.
“It’s a major readiness issue,” Scott said.
“Overall, we’re well into the 90s,” said Capt. John Hewitt, chief of staff at Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. He said a focused effort, particularly by “deckplate” leaders — chiefs and leading petty officers — made a big difference, as did a directive from Adm. Christopher Grady, commander of Norfolk-based Fleet Forces Command.
At Joint Base Langley Eustis, 91% of active-duty airmen are fully vaccinated and another 5% have received a first shot, said Col. Greg Beaulieu, commander of the 633rd Air Base Wing, which runs the joint base. A total of 110 airmen have requested a religious exemption and 40 a medical one, mainly because of pregnancy.
Beaulieu said 77% of active-duty soldiers are fully vaccinated and 12% have had a first dose.
Some 89% of Coast Guardsmen in Virginia are fully vaccinated and another 4% have had a first shot, said Capt. John Dewey, commander of the Portsmouth Coast Guard base.
Some 89% of staff at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Hampton are fully vaccinated, while the VA has vaccinated more than 31,700 area veterans, director Taquisa K. Simmons said.
At Jefferson National Laboratory in Newport News, 83% of employees are fully vaccinated, and 7% have received a first shot, said director Stuart Henderson. He said some laboratory subcontractors are concerned they might not have enough vaccinated employees to do their work on the site.
Newport News Shipbuilding vice president Jon Arena said more than 60% of the shipyard’s employees are fully vaccinated, adding that the company next week will open a vaccination center.
“The shipyard is fully supportive of the mandate, it is the right thing to do,” he said. The shipyard has received 700 applications for a religious exemption.
Local military seems to be outpacing the military as a whole. As of last week, 90% of the Navy’s active duty sailors had been vaccinated, while 81% of Army and Air Force active duty personnel and 76 % of Marines had been, the Department of Defense reported.
But vaccination rates for reservists and National Guard personnel ranged between 38% and 70%.
Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com
