{"id":57054,"date":"2021-10-01T20:01:27","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T20:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/10\/01\/military-covid-death-surge-continues-but-vaccine-rates-are-also-up\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:59:06","slug":"military-covid-death-surge-continues-but-vaccine-rates-are-also-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/10\/01\/military-covid-death-surge-continues-but-vaccine-rates-are-also-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Military COVID death surge continues, but vaccine rates are also up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Another six troops succumbed to COVID-19 this week, continuing a trend that began in August<\/a> and has continued into the fall<\/a>. Where last year, most months saw one or two deaths, since late July, there have been multiple deaths a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now totaling 58, the military\u2019s COVID-19 mortality rate has held steady at 0.02 percent, 50 times what it was for most of 2020. At the same time, facing deadlines for mandatory vaccination<\/a>, the services are slowly marching toward 100-percent vaccination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall troop vaccine rates have climbed steadily about 2 percent weekly through the summer and into fall, most of those on the active-duty side. As of Wednesday, 72 percent of the total force is at least partially vaccinated, while 95 percent of active-duty troops have at least started the vaccine series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of the 58 troops who have died of COVID-19 complications were fully vaccinated, according to Army Maj. Charlie Dietz, a Pentagon spokesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new reports include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n