Thousands of US troops defy COVID-19 vaccine order

Nickaylah Sampson seemed well on her way to achieving her dream of becoming an officer in the U.S. Army.

A stellar student whose family has a long tradition of military service, the San Antonio native earned a coveted spot at West Point.

She completed her freshman year in the spring of 2021, just as the military launched its vaccination campaign against COVID-19. Though she had no problem with the nine other vaccines the U.S. military requires upon enlistment, she said she worried that the COVID-19 shots were too new for their risks to be fully understood.

She said her parents, both Army veterans, told her she had only one option: "Get out as quickly as you can."

So in October, Sampson, 19, quit West Point.

The latest data from the military show that roughly 30,000 active-duty service members remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, despite a Defense Department mandate issued in August and deadlines that have passed.

Their defiance of a military order is a striking illustration of how deeply