Marines Refuse Vaccine

| April 11, 2021

Across the Marine Corps (pronounced “core,” Joe) about 40% are declining the opportunity to participate in the voluntary COVID-19 vaccine program. The vaccine has received Emergency Use Authorization (EAU) from the FDA, and by law use cannot be made mandatory by the military. Marines, and other service members, have refused the vaccine for any of several reasons, including wanting to allow others to get the vaccine before them; having already received the vaccine through other channels; or waiting until the military makes receiving the vaccine mandatory. Mandatory inoculations will doubtless occur just as soon as the vaccine receives FDA approval (licensure), or Joe issues a waiver from the Oval Office.

If outperforming the norm is the right yardstick here, the Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune have outperformed their fellows by a notable degree.

Poetrooper sends.

Over 57% of marines at Camp Lejeune in NC have declined the Covid vaccine

There’s something about this particular U.S. Marine base that has the troops acting smarter than most.

JD Rucker by JD Rucker

Well over half of the U.S. Marines at one particular base have declined to take the Covid vaccine. This is a sharp difference from the 40% average we’re seeing among all Marines.

At Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the rate of soldiers declining to take the Covid vaccine is striking. Out of 26,400 who have been offered the vaccine so far, 15,100 have opted out.

For the record, I will not be taking the vaccine. This is important to understand because I will be quoting an article from CNN which portrays the Marines declining the vaccine as somehow backwards. I do not feel they are backwards. They are doing the right thing and setting a proper example.

According to CNN:

The declination rate at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, one of the prominent Marine Corps bases, was far higher, at 57%, according to another set of data provided to CNN. Of 26,400 Marines who have been offered vaccinations, 15,100 have chosen not to receive them, a number that includes both II Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Installation East — Camp Lejeune. Another 11,500 active-duty Marines are scheduled to be offered the vaccines.

“We fully understand that widespread acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine provides us with the best means to defeat the pandemic. The key to addressing the pandemic is building vaccine confidence,” Marine Corps spokeswoman Col. Kelly Frushour told CNN in a statement.

Any FDA-approved vaccine the Pentagon deems necessary cannot be declined by active duty servicemembers. The three Covid-19 vaccines are not FDA-approved. Instead, they are being distributed under an emergency use authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration. As experimental drugs, the Pentagon cannot require them.

There’s another possible reason or two for refusing the vaccine- a healthy mistrust of mandatory vaccines in general (anthrax, anyone?), and a barely contained joy in saying “no” to power. Military members refusing the vaccine have infuriated certain members of Congress to such an extent that seven Democrats have sent a letter to Joe asking him to issue a “waiver of informed consent” requiring all U.S. military service members to get the COVID-19 vaccine. If issued it certainly would be tied up in the courts for a very long time. Read the entire article here: American Conservative Movement.
Thanks, Poe.

Category: COVID-19, Guest Link, Marines

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26Limabeans

That second shot still has me messed up after
ten days. Sense of smell was really strange for
at least four days. Sorry I “complied”.
Too late now.

David

Counterpoint – I have had both Moderna shots. Tired after the first shot the same day, fine the next (and I did a lot on that first day which also could have explained the tiredness.) Second shot had zero effect, not even a sore spot at the actual injection site. Wife has had the Pfizer shots, same lack of reaction. Think it all depends on your individual metabolism.

akpual

Same here David.

thebesig

There are other factors that come into play when it comes to side effects. They’re finding that a good percentage of senior citizens tend to have minimal to no side effects to the shots, and that the stronger side effects are impacting those in the younger age ranges.

One explanation they gave is that the stronger the immune system, the stronger the reaction. Peoples’ immune system generally gets weaker the older people get.

Anonymous

Concur. Had both shots, only my arm was sore from the 2nd (about like the Anthrax vaccination) but the next day it was fine.

thebesig

My second shot is around the corner. :mrgreen: I got up and ran the very next pre-dawn morning the day after that shot. Went for my distance run early during the predawn run the next few days after the first shot. I only took a break on the day I normally take a break.

I did have some minor side effects. The tenderness in the injection area was slightly higher than that of a flu shot, but not anywhere near what I experienced from shots in the 1970s. Slight headaches, but not enough to stop me from plowing through my doctoral course requirements.

I did feel fatigue that night and the next one, but not any different from the other times I felt fatigued. I go to bed at the same time range each night, I don’t feel tired when I do. But there are some days where I would feel the bed’s pull before that time range. That symptom was similar to that kind of fatigue.

The only major side effect was a good one… My dreams were more “solid” than normal and lasted longer. Maybe after the second shot, I could have those dreams where I have my full awake awareness in the dream, and I could fly at will. :mrgreen:

MarineDad61

I can add a few things here.

1 – Jacksonville and Onslow County, North Carolina,
home to Camp LeJeune and MCAS New River,
and neighboring counties, including MCAS Cherry Point,
have been far below state and national averages in 2000 Virus positives and deaths,
and have had no significant surges.
None.

2 – I last visited this area of North Carolina July 2020,
did what I should, enjoyed a visit with son, family, and friends,
visited beach towns, and overall had a really good time.

3 – However, due to summer surge in Pennsylvania, and other states
(including inland urban North Carolina cities),
I was subjected to voluntary 14 day quarantine upon my return to PA.

4 – My son and I have not discussed our vaccinations, yay or nay, nor when.
Safe to say, he has a family, I have my health concerns,
and we all are making wise choices for ourselves,
and those around us.

That said, everyone living life,
or long stationed at Camp LeJeune (or MCAS New River),
has been (relatively) enjoying a lower chance of exposure, infection, illness, or death, than almost every other congested or heavy populated area of the USA.

I will be traveling to this area of North Carolina again soon,
again to the beaches,
again to a restaurant or two,
again in a motel,
and again doing reasonably and safely.
🙂

akpual

Sounds right. I think the millionaire cabinet salesman governor of PA has done a poor job with this.

MarineDad61

akpual,
Gov. Wolf is generally hated in PA.
So is “Dr. Levine”,
now famously promoted by Biden to a Vice Secretary of Health job.
Ugh.

Hack Stone

Marines at Camp Lejeune may have a lower infection rate as to (see what Hack did there?) COVID, but they make up for it with their cancer rates from the contaminated water.

The Other Whitey

Maybe they have enough common sense not to blindly accept an untested, unvetted “vaccine” to a disease whose severity has been wildly exaggerated and politicized, pushed out by companies who’ve been granted immunity from prosecution and civil litigation over any possible negative effects. Maybe they took a look at all of that and decided “Y’know what? I think I’ll pass for the moment.” Let me be clear on this. I am not an antivaxxer. I’m vaccinated against all kinds of things. I’ve had my kids vaccinated the same way. We get the flu shot every year. We get vaccines that have been properly tested and proven for decades. This bullshit that’s been whipped out in just six months is untested and unproven. Despite all their claims, there’s not yet any way of knowing the safety and efficacy of any of them, and there won’t be for years to come. The horseshit political circus doesn’t help; first it was “Don’t trust the vaccine BECAUSE TRUMP!!!”, then as soon as PedoJoe was fraudulently installed it became “You’re a science-denying conspiracy nut and possibly a domestic terrorist if you don’t trust the vaccine!” The same mass media that breathlessly gasps about Covid death tolls” that aren’t, denies election fraud, and tells us with a straight face that Joe fucking Biden is the most popular presidential candidate in American history swears up and down that the vaccines are perfectly safe. Stories are popping up on teh interwebz that pregnant woman who’ve gotten the shots are miscarrying at a drastically higher rate. No word on that from the MSM. They won’t even investigate, much less try to properly disprove it, so who the hell knows if that’s really going on or not. On top of all that, the clinical evidence we do have indicates that the Chinese Bat Flu is quite likely a one-and-done bug. Stories of people testing positive again after clearing up the first time must be taken with a grain of salt due to the unreliability of the tests (false positives and false negatives are common) and the tendency to claim any… Read more »

Poetrooper

You nailed it TOW–ol’ Poe’s problem with the vaccine program is not just what I hear from those opposing it as much as what I hear from those on the left ballyhooing its unquestionable safety or long-term effects–the same folks, as you point out, who just months ago were warning us against taking “Trump’s” vaccine because it was untested and unsafe.

So what’s changed? They’re still the same vaccines. Oh yeah, it’s now a Democrat administration pushing this vaccine program.

The media is so provably dishonest about so much that I have come to the point where I reactively reject ANYTHING they promote. And the greater their enthusiasm for anything, the greater my suspicion of its true worth.

The Democrats may feel smugly confident that they have the media fully in their corner, but for about half of America that is a liability rather than an asset. Political treachery is usually cloaked in secrecy and difficult to prove, whereas media treachery is on full display 24/7.

And as mama used to say, “Lil’ Poe, you are known by the company you keep…”

MCPO USN

TOW,

Amen.

I will not be getting the vaccine. I would love for “The Scranton Kid” to try and give it to me.

KoB

Horizon Corp Vaccine A for the peons. Vaccine B for the Elite. Government paid for world wide inoculations. To combat lab produced Shiva Virus. Marines may eat crayons but they know who the enemy is. Semper Fi, Devil Dogs!

Took the J&J one shot Commie Bat Flu Friday the 2nd. Semi cold/flu symptoms that evening, felt draggy assy on Saturday. Was my usual obnoxious self on Sunday. Took it on the strong advice of my pill pusher and the pleas of Lady Friends. And so I may be able to get on an airplane this summer. My culling thru the news feeds, looking for FGS/DCN, I’m seeing all kinds of articles on the advent of “Show me your papers, Citizen” to travel and even go into eating places. Was thinking that all the shots we had to get when the Army was planning on sending me to some exotic country covered me for everything including distemper. Different drugs are going to affect people in different ways. I can’t take Plavix and have a Lady Friend that can’t take sulphur based drugs. Now we are seeing all of the articles on problems with J&J. Who knows?

borderbill

May seem odd to some, but I have had no confidence or trust in the pheds since about ’68 or so. Was engaged in a foreign debacle of their design. Lost any respect for guvmint; have confidence there are many of US who will get The USA back. fuck biden

timactual

“May seem odd to some, but I have had no confidence or trust in the pheds since about ’68 or so.”

Heh.
Oddly enough, that is about the time my unquestioning faith in the wisdom and virtue of authority started to waver.

Graybeard

Musta been sumtin’ in the water.

Max

75 yr old woman here: turns out I had covid about 3 months ago; had a bout of 3-4 days of feeling achy & tired; no fever so blamed it on my fibromyalgia; nobody told me 75 yr olds might not feel sick; have had a rash off & on ever since; nobody told me you can get rashes after covid. Took the J&J 2 days ago; arm sore if I press on it. Pardon me if I think this covid crap is overdone.

MustangCryppie

Max, I’ve found that seniors like you and me have pretty much the same attitude. This is all a bunch of bullshit. The ones who freak out are the 20 and 30 somethings. They’re treating this like it is the Black Death. I chalk it up to their indoctrination in the “educational” system today.

timactual

Yep. These “Golden Years” are turning out to be as “golden” as a Rolex watch bought from that guy at the gas station.

Ever notice how many diseases have “flu-like symptoms” for which we should seek medical attention?

I am not sure what fibromyalgia is, but if it causes aches and pains, I’ve got it.

Graybeard

The 90-somethings in our church were quite comfortable not wearing masks and shaking hands.

I’m a few years behind you, and despite a granddaughter and a daughter testing positive never got the Wuhan virus.

Some of our age group at church that have had cancer were cautious, many of us didn’t sweat it.

Hack Stone

Hack and Rosetta Stone got their first Pfizer shots a few weeks back at Walter Reed. Afterwards, Hack went to work out out by flexing his right arm on the slot machines at Maryland Live. Cleared about $400 that day. Went for Round 2 this past Friday, went back to the casino, and lost $300. They never addressed those negative side effects in the literature they gave us.

Berliner

Myself, wifey & 89 yo mother-in-law living with us got the Phizer shots begining in January with no issues.

Our 22 yo nephew, a Radiology Tech & EMT in the Philippines, got the Sinovac Biotech (Chinese manufactured) vaccine last week and felt like crap with headaches and chills for 3 days.

Jeff LPH 3, 63-66

Myself and Sis received the Moderna shot at Publix on Feb 30th and second shot at Publix on March 17th. No reaction or pain after each shot but Sis had some chills for a day or two after the second shot. One of the Vollies up north in my Company at Station 1 had a 101 fever and a headache after his second shot and was fine the next day. Only reaction I ever had was a fever and swelled up arm after a typhus shot at Great Lakes Navy Boot camp back in 1963 using those guns. Syringes used when I went aboard my Ship.

Stacy0311

Maybe a history of the government refusing to accept that some of their actions cause long term health risks to their captive audience (the military)?
How long did it take for the VA to admit that yeah, maybe that Agent Orange thing might be causing some health problems?

Gulf War Syndrome? Never heard of it. And those progestigmine bromide pills, combined with the botulimum toxin shots, malaria pills and oil field fires are just coincidental to the illness rates among Gulf War veterans.

Burn pits? Yeah lets sign you up so we can track you. Mind you, we’re not going to do a damn thing about any illnesses, let alone admit responsibility.

As for the efficiency of the military healthcare system: When I mobilized in 2017, I was told “You need a polio, MMR and diptheria shot.” EVEN THOUGH I still had that little yellow shot card from when I went to boot camp in 1985. Which was transcribed to include my previous shot record from when I grew up as a military brat. First 3 shots listed? Polio, MMR, diptheria. I’m now on my second yellow shot card because the first one filled up around 1995. When I reported to my new unit and went through medical screening it was “Oh you need a sickle cell test”. As a 55 y/o white male. Really? Again, guess what was annotated in my little yellow shot card dated 1985? Right-sickle cell negative.

So color me skeptical about military medicine. I’m like Farmer’s: I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two.

Also, I’ve already had the ‘rona. March 2020. It sucked. I survived

11B-Mailclerk

Never had any problems with shots. Got the right ones at right time. Granted, only one enlistment.

Then again, once I heard the first complaint that mail wasn’t finding medics in the field, I went out of my way to get it to them. For some reason, they then went out of their way to look after me.

MustangCryppie

Stacy, the only difference between you and me is that I’m skeptical about the medical field in general. Whenever I’m told that one of those “experts” is about to comment on COVID I turn the TV off.

Poetrooper

Ol’ Poe never forgets that old bit of wisdom conveyed to him when he first began carrying a pharmaceutical bag half a century ago, by an old, grizzled detailman (pharmaceutical rep) with decades of experience:

“Son, when you’re sittin’ there across the desk tryin’ to sell that doctor, don’t feel overawed by all his schoolin’ ’cause there’s a fifty-fifty chance he graduated in the bottom half of his class at medical school.”

It was sound advice and Poe lost his awe of doctors decades ago…

Poetrooper

If you think it was hard to get the federal government to acknowledge responsibility for the tens of thousands of military personnel affected by Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome, just imagine how hard the feds will fight against any admission of culpability if a few years from now Americans in the tens of millions begin demonstrating seriously harmful long-term effects from these vaccines.

The Other Whitey

What responsibility? They already granted the pharma giants preemptive immunity from prosecution and civil litigation.

Poetrooper

Yes, but the feds have promised to establish a compensatory fund to placate those who have doubts about their vaccines:

https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccine-compensation/index.html

Why establish such a fund if you’re totally confident these vaccines are completely safe?

And if things do go south, trying to collect will be more difficult than Agent Orange or Gulf War Syndrome injuries have ever been.

Imagine if these RNA vaccines have some negative effect on fetal development–it will be much worse than the Thalidomide scandal of the ’60’s simply because of the huge numbers of women who have taken the vaccines.

Graybeard

Mrs. GB and I (born early 50s) got the Pfizer shots 1 & 2.

After the 2nd, she had a day of feeling puny. Both our arms were a bit sore. But otherwise no ill effects.

FWIW, my mother was an RN, I was an EMT-B in the mid-80s. Like in any other profession, there are good physicians, mediocre physicians, and lousy physicians. I tend to try to find the good ones and still understand that they are as human as any of us.

As in other areas – the ones who are know-it-alls are ones I avoid at all costs. I prefer those who acknowledge their limitations, and trust them more.

We took the vaccine as a precaution. It will help in general, and as I care for a brother in a nursing home (which has kept its positive-test case count among its residents to a total of 4 over 13.5 months). We are really not worried in general about it as we, despite age, are not in poor health.

Is it 100% safe? Nope. There is no such thing in medicine, nor any other aspect of life. Are there potential complications? Of course. This is not a safe world, there are no guarantees a man can make that are 100% reliable. We all will die of something in the end.

The fear factor is, IMHO, overblown by those who wish to gain control of the US. I refuse to live in fear.

Commissar

I am a little surprised they are permitted to refuse.

Back in the day you were subject to punitive action under the UCMJ if you refused a vaccine.

I am in the fence whether a service member should have the right to refuse a vaccine.

But I am certain that most of those refusing are brainwashed idiots.

SFC D

Service members now have the right to refuse experimental vaccines, unlike those of us who served in earlier times. And you really should be careful about tossing around terms like “brainwashed idiots”. Fair warning.

Commissar

I said “most”; so anyone who does not consider themselves an idiots can jest ego defense and assume they are among those refusing who are not brainwashed idiots.

Commissar

*idiot *just

SFC D

The problem is that your definition of brainwashed idiot is everyone that doesn’t think like you.

Poetrooper

“The problem is that your definition of brainwashed idiot is everyone that doesn’t think like you.”

Ergo: a brainwashed idiot is everyone that doesn’t think like a brainwashed idiot…😂😂😂

Slow Joe

Ok. I confess.

I am a brainwashed idiot.

Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell washed my brain with their nonsense.

Animal

Brainwashed idiots like the Marine Corps made them brainwashed idiots? Or brainwashed idiots because they don’t believe what you believe?

Either way I’ve seen you harshly castigate people who unfairly stereotyped a group of people.

Bottom line, calling a group of Marines brainwashed idiots is bullshit.

MCPO USN

Commissar,

Maybe these young healthy Marines don’t fear a virus with a 99% survival rate. And maybe there are competent doctors at the base hospital who are smart and advise against it.

Stop thinking in absolutes that you are right and everyone else is wrong. It is untrue and annoying.

SFC D

Hey, no fair! You can’t use facts and real references against the Commissar! That would contradict his empirical data and prove him wrong! That’s just mean. You’re probably a member of that “Goat Locker” extremist group too!

Poetrooper

Aw crap, Ed, there you go hitting Lars with facts which are, of course, meaningless to Kool Aid drinkers like him. With his ilk, it’s never what actually happened but what have SHOULD have happened in a totally progressive world.

RetiredDevilDoc8404

Lars,

You are a moron. How many shot calls for Marines have you run? Any? Oh, that’s right, you’re only a pretend medic for your pantifa compatriots. Getting Marines to show up to get the mandatory shots is like slamming your head into concrete (feels good when you can stop). Giving them the option to say no to another shot and take a gamble on a virus that odds tremendously favor them surviving, WTF do you think they’re going to say? And this whole “it was FDA approved” malarkey? My pharmacology teacher worked for them, he said something in class that I keep in the back of my mind – if you think they’re going to protect you from bad products I have two words for you to remember, cigarettes and phen-phen. Like the Marines I will wait until I am ordered to get a shot. What happened to my body my choice, or does that only apply to certain situations you agree with? Hypocrite much?

Jay

Every now and then, you can read a comment and just KNOW who posted it. This is one of those times.

Of course YOU would resort to name calling when over HALF of the Marines in question are exercising a little free will and doing some due research before subjecting themselves to being test subjects. Maybe the ones that are just blindly being led along are the ‘brainwashed idiots’….

Side note: I went my last 6 years without getting a flu shot. Pretty ironic, considering the only times I NEVER got the flu was when I DIDN’T get the shot.

QMC

Just south of Lejeune here in coastal NC. No for me now as well.

Under 50, no health concerns, and I’m pretty sure I had it this time last year, and was over it within a week.

Figure I’ll wait a year or so more to see how the rest of you guinea pigs work out.

Duane

I did the J&J at my VA, and the wife will be getting hers this coming weekend (our VA has a totally different batch # than the ones of concern). Did I really want to -honestly, no. But, by the same token we want to be able to go enjoy vacation this year after being screwed royally last year, so this was kind of a covering the bases. I had zero issues from my shot (far less than I did from the stupid Shingles shot that hurt for a week both times), and I’m hoping that she doesn’t have any issues with hers.

11B-Mailclerk

I think it is wonderful the USA was able to crank out -three- vaccines in record time. If this had been an actual bio-emergency with something more serious than a panic over a “bad flu”, we are able to rise to the occasion and defeat it.

So if some dipshit regime or rogue actor plays “biowar”, we can deal with it. Then nuke-stomp them to Hell. (Or other suitable stomp)

Since the risk of SARS-COVID-2 / ChiComCoof is tiny for most, many are sceptical of the vaccine risk. Good. Evaluating risk instead of blind trust is healthy.

We have options and freedom to choose. Mission accomplished.

USAFRetired

My wife is an RN who works in the ICU at a local hospital. She got the Pfizer shot(s) in the early days of availability. Our own protocol was she changed out of her scrubs and such before leaving work changing into street clothes. Upon pulling in to the attached garage at home she would proceed directly to the laundry room and deposit her scrubs and traveling clothes in the washing machine then proceed to the master bath and shower.

I got my first of two CV19 shots last week when I became eligible and they became available. No side effects.

I don’t blame the GIs for not taking the optional vaccine. This isn’t like the anthrax vaccine. The anthrax vaccine ( I took six) had been approved for decades to prevent cutaneous (contact) transfer of anthrax in the livestock industry. The only “experimental” more appropriately off label portion of the shots many of us took, was we were taking it to prevent the aerosol transmission of anthrax of which there was precious little data, that it would work in that regard. While it kept the sheep shaggers at Ft Sill from catching anthrax from their weekend dates, its efficacy against aerosol anthrax is still unknown.

I still remember as a kid seeing other kids who were victims of thalidomide caused birth defects, and as the mutagenetic effects of the drugs are unknown I believe it would be unethical/immoral to mandate any woman of child bearing age to take the vaccine.

As far as the Congress critters who want to mandate it. Someone should inform them they aren’t elected leaders of the people, they are elected representatives.

Jay

I was stationed at and still live in the Camp Lejeune/Jacksonville area and currently work for the Dept of Health and Human Services. The amount of skepticism and distrust of the vaccine not only Marines, but the populace as a whole is REAL. Neither Marines nor family members are putting a lot of trust in it. Per our family practitioner, my whole family most likely had the RONA in Feb of last year, before it was being tracked. Severity went from a week of severe cough/inability to breath (wife) to absolutely nothing (son). I myself had a hacking cough/spitting up oatmeal in the morning. At that time, we all went on with our day and spread it to God knows who else, so on and so forth before everthing locked down. Im getting a two pronged assault asking if I am wanting to take the vaccine: from work and the VA. I respectfully decline on both accounts. I’m not injecting something into my body for something that has a 99.3 recovery rate IF you catch it.