Over the 18 months between March 2020 to August 2021, America’s armed forces experienced 43 deaths attributed to COVID-19. Over the past four months, from September through December, the military has seen the same number of deaths, according to a report from the Pentagon reviewed by Newsweek.
This increase in military deaths comes despite the fact that 96 percent of active-duty soldiers being fully vaccinated, a memo by the Pentagon states.
The Omicron variant has emerged as the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on December 20. With it has come a 215 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks and an 82 percent uptick in hospitalizations. However, deaths have increased at a far less rapid rate, increasing by only 16 percent.