Armed forces to change after Queen's ruling

All military ceremonial titles will be lost by Harry in the armed forces but his Invictus Games will continue.

Recommended Stories

  • ‘We don’t want to wait on study’: Biden adviser vows to start acting ‘now’ on systemic racism

    ‘We have to start breaking down systemic racism and barriers that have held people of colour back and especially African Americans’

  • New Zealand's Auckland starts second COVID-19 lockdown this month

    Exactly a year after New Zealand recorded its first coronavirus case, the biggest city of Auckland woke on Sunday to a second lockdown this month, as authorities try to rein in a cluster of the more contagious UK variant. The seven-day lockdown of a population of nearly 2 million, announced late on Saturday by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, was prompted by the case of a person who had been infectious for a week but not in isolation. "It is more than likely there will be additional cases in the community," Ardern told a televised news conference, although no new cases were recorded on Sunday.

  • Younger Military Personnel Reject Vaccine, in Warning for Commanders and the Nation

    WASHINGTON — Americans who go into the military understand the loss of personal liberty. Many of their daily activities are prescribed, as are their hairstyles, attire and personal conduct. So when it comes to taking a coronavirus vaccine, many troops — especially younger enlisted personnel as opposed to their officers — see a rare opportunity to exercise free will. “The Army tells me what, how and when to do almost everything,” said Sgt. Tracey Carroll, who is based at Fort Sill, an Army post in Oklahoma. “They finally asked me to do something and I actually have a choice, so I said no.” Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Carroll, 24, represents a broad swath of members of the military — a largely young, healthy set of Americans from every corner of the nation — who are declining to get the shot, which for now is optional among personnel. They cite an array of political and health-related concerns. But this reluctance among younger troops is a warning to civilian health officials about the potential hole in the broad-scale immunity that medical professionals say is needed for Americans to reclaim their collective lives. “At the end of the day, our military is our society,” said Dr. Michael S. Weiner, the former chief medical officer for the Defense Department, who now serves in the same role for Maximus, a government contractor and technology company. “They have the same social media, the same families, the same issues that society at large has.” Roughly one-third of troops on active duty or in the National Guard have declined to take the vaccine, military officials recently told Congress. In some places, such as Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the nation’s largest military installation, acceptance rates are below 50%. “We thought we’d be in a better spot in terms of the opt-in rate,” said Col. Joseph Buccino, a spokesman at Fort Bragg, one of the first military sites to offer the vaccine. While Pentagon officials say they are not collecting specific data on those who decline the vaccine, there is broad agreement that refusal rates are far higher among younger members, and enlisted personnel are more likely to say no than officers. Military spouses appear to share that hesitation: In a December poll of 674 active-duty family members conducted by Blue Star Families, a military advocacy group, 58% said they would not allow their children to receive the vaccine. For many troops, the reluctance reflects the concerns of civilians who have said in various public health polls that they will not take the vaccine. Many worry the vaccines are unsafe or were developed too quickly. Some of the concerns stem from misinformation that has run rampant on Facebook and other social media, including the false rumor that the vaccine contains a microchip devised to monitor recipients, that it will permanently disable the body’s immune system or that it is some form of government control. In some ways, vaccines are the new masks: a preventive measure against the virus that has been politicized. There are many service members like Carroll, officials said, who cite the rare chance to avoid one vaccine among the many required, especially for those who deploy abroad. Young Americans who are not in the military, and who believe they do not need to worry about becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus, are likely to embrace their own version of defiance, especially in the face of confusing and at times contradictory information about how much protection the vaccine actually offers. “I don’t think anyone likes being told what to do,” Weiner said. “There is a line in the American DNA that says, ‘Just tell me what to do so I know what to push back on.’” Other troops cite the anthrax vaccine, which was believed to cause adverse effects in members of the military in the late 1990s, as evidence that the military should not be on the front lines of a new vaccine. In many cases, the reasons for refusal include all of the above. A 24-year-old female airman first class in Virginia said she declined the shot even though she is an emergency medical worker, as did many in her squadron. She shared her views only on the condition of anonymity because, like most enlisted members, she is not permitted to speak to the news media without official approval. “I would prefer not to be the one testing this vaccine,” she explained in an email. She also said that because vaccine access had become a campaign theme during the 2020 race for the White House, she was more skeptical, and added that some of her colleagues had told her they would rather separate from the military than take the vaccine should it become mandatory. The military has been offering the vaccine to older personnel, troops on the medical front lines, immediate response and contingency forces, some contractors who fall into those groups and some dependents of active-duty troops. Hundreds of thousands of people in those categories have received shots so far. The vaccine, unlike many other inoculations, is not required by the military at this time because it has been approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. Once it becomes a standard, approved vaccine, the military can order troops to take the shot. The prevalence of fear about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine has frustrated military officials. “There is a lot of misinformation out there,” Robert Salesses, an acting assistant secretary of defense, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. One member of the committee, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., suggested that the military personnel who refused vaccines “risk an entire community” where bases are. While military leaders insist that vaccine acceptance rates will rise as safety information continues to spread, officials and advocacy groups are scrambling to improve the rates, holding information sessions with health care leaders like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. On some bases, health care workers follow up with those who refuse the vaccine to explore their reasons. This past week, the Army held live sessions on Facebook with high-ranking officers to press the message that the vaccine was a boon, and hundreds of commenters balked throughout. “It has not been proven this vaccine saves lives,” one person wrote. The concern is felt at the top tier of the Pentagon’s leadership. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III released a video saying, “You know, I’ve taken it myself.” “After talking with my doctor, I believed it was the right thing to do, not only for my health, but also for my ability to do the job and to contribute to our readiness,” Austin said. Many public health experts say that such appeals from leaders on high may be the least effective method to convince groups that distrust government or authority figures. “Many enlisted folks watch an admiral getting a shot and say, ‘I don’t see me in you at this point in my life,’” Weiner noted. “I appreciate you got a vaccine, but that’s not me.” Staff Sgt. Jack Jay, who is stationed at an Army base at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, has heard every manner of fear, distrust and wild conspiracy theories from his peers — and has tried to gently share his own views. “The reasons go from political, to the history of unproven research being carried out, and because of our age group and health we are not a high risk population of hospitalization,” said Jay, 33, who has already taken his shot. “The best I feel that I can do is respect the other person’s reasons even though I may not agree,” he said. “However, if one of my peers makes false statements as if they are true, I will challenge them to back up their argument with legitimate sources.” The thread of politics that weaves through those discussions complicates the conversation, Jay said, and reflects those he sees on Facebook and elsewhere outside the military. “The Army is just a good barometer of what will most likely happen nationally, due to the thought processes of our country at this current moment,” he said. In making decisions, “the biggest factor is do you know someone who got the vaccine,” said Jennifer Akin, a director of applied research at Blue Star Families. “There are so many narratives out there, it’s hard to know what to do. We are trying to provide people with trustworthy information from trustworthy sources.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

  • U.S. authorizes J&J's COVID-19 vaccine, making it third available

    The U.S. government on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, enabling millions more Americans to be vaccinated in the coming weeks and setting the vaccine up for additional approvals around the world. The J&J vaccine is the third authorized in the United States, following ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, both of which require two doses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the emergency use authorization of the J&J vaccine for adults aged 18 and older following Friday's unanimous endorsement by the agency's panel of outside experts.

  • Philippines' Duterte signs indemnity bill for COVID-19 vaccine rollout

    Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday signed into law a bill that gives indemnity to vaccine makers if their COVID-19 shots cause adverse side-effects, days before the country starts its lagging inoculation programme. Despite having one of the highest number of coronavirus infections in Asia, the Philippines will be the last Southeast Asian nation to receive its initial set of vaccines. It covers the creation of a 500 million pesos ($10.26 million) indemnity fund to cover compensation for potential serious adverse effects stemming from the doses' emergency use.

  • Woman dragged along road by car after being robbed

    Incident is latest in string of attacks in Oakland’s Chinatown

  • Lexington man identified as victim of fatal motorcycle crash

    The 59-year-old motorcyclist was heading north on Boiling Springs Road in Lexington Wednesday when he struck the rear of a van that had slowed to make a turn, officials said.

  • President Pence, anyone? In Mike Pence’s hometown, residents ponder his legacy and his future

    Mike Pence is returning to his home state of Indiana to decide his future, but residents in his home town of Columbus are torn on his legacy, reports Richard Hall.

  • GOP senator rejects $15 minimum wage saying he once earned $6 an hour, or $23 with inflation

    Republicans point to wages they earned as young people decades ago despite rising inflation that has outpaced Americans’ earnings

  • Explainer: What is love? Beijing desires unconditional loyalty from Hong Kong

    Chinese officials have signalled that Beijing plans sweeping electoral changes for Hong Kong, possibly as soon as next week, when China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), opens in Beijing. WHAT IS BEIJING PLANNING? Xia Baolong, director of China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, has said the electoral system in the global financial hub needs to be changed to allow only "patriots" to govern.

  • Spanish report calls for killing of more than 850 cattle on pariah ship

    More than 850 cows that spent months aboard a ship wandering across the Mediterranean are not fit for transport anymore and should be killed, according to a confidential report by Spanish government veterinarians seen by Reuters. The cows were kept in what an animal rights activist called "hellish" conditions on the Karim Allah, which docked in the southeastern Spanish port of Cartagena on Thursday after struggling to find a buyer for the cattle during the past two months. The beasts were rejected by several countries over fears they had bovine bluetongue virus.

  • Japanese cult leader is speaking for the 10th year in a row at CPAC

    This will be the cult leader’s tenth year speaking at the event

  • Victim’s glasses found in car of South Dakota Attorney General who claimed he hit a deer

    Jason Ravnsborg charged with three misdemeanour counts after accident leading to death of 55-year-old pedestrian

  • Analysis: U.S. seeks to put Saudi crown prince in his place - for now

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have been spared direct punishment after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he has not emerged unscathed. The declassified report, based on CIA intelligence, concludes that the prince approved an operation to "capture or kill" Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. President Joe Biden's decision to publish a report that his predecessor Donald Trump had set aside brings with it a broad refocusing of Washington's stance on dealing with the kingdom, on its human rights record, and on its lucrative arms purchases.

  • Lady Gaga’s bulldogs returned unharmed after kidnapping

    The singer’s two French bulldogs have been recovered after being stolen

  • Nasa’s DC headquarters renamed after ‘Hidden Figures’ engineer Mary Jackson

    Jackson became Nasa’s first Black female engineer in 1958

  • Lauren Boebert hints she’s still taking gun to Congress in spite of Pelosi rules

    Under the new rule, members who attempt to bring firearms to the floor could be fined

  • 2nd shooting reported in Chapel Hill in a week

    The town rarely sees shootings, but this year, five have already been reported. Two people have been shot, one fatally.

  • Macron says he would take AstraZeneca vaccine if it was offered

    French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he would gladly accept being inoculated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine if it were offered when his turn comes. "In view of the latest scientific studies, the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been proven," Macron told reporters after a virtual European Union summit. The French leader, who is under pressure to accelerate a vaccine rollout in France that is badly lagging Britain's, also said AstraZeneca had failed to meet its delivery targets and that EU leaders were putting pressure on the Anglo-Swedish company.

  • Merkel won’t take AstraZeneca vaccine, says she's too old

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she won't take AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine because she is too old, a comment that comes as millions of Germans refuse to take the vaccine because they do not trust it.