The head of the Pentagon’s National Guard has said the Guard’s failure to vaccinate children could prevent some troops from being deployed overseas, although he added that there was no question about the flu vaccine’s safety.
“If somebody knows that their son or daughter is among the 50 percent who can’t get vaccinated, then they’re probably not going to answer the call,” said Gen. Raymond Odierno, the Army’s top officer, who has overall control over the National Guard. “And we have enough Guard members and reserve members that would stand on the borders, in Korea, in those spots. And they won’t show up. The vast majority will, but those are the ones we can’t depend on.”
Odierno’s statement was the latest in a series of comments he has made in recent weeks about the needs of the guard in the face of the military’s increasing readiness issues, which he said extend across the services. More than 300 troops have been sickened in an outbreak of foodborne illnesses in the Alabama and Mississippi National Guard food service facilities, and Odierno has said he is concerned about the risk of civilian contamination at those facilities.