Vaccine information sucked into JBLM black hole. It’s time for Biden to let data out
JBLM’s secrecy surrounding COVID-19 was troublesome last spring as infections, hospitalizations and deaths from this scary new virus soared around Pierce County.
Public health officials were left with a blind spot inside the South Sound’s largest gated community — a mobile population of military personnel, spouses and children comparable in size to some larger local cities, such as Puyallup or University Place.
Now the black hole of COVID information has foiled efforts to calculate accurate vaccination rates. Claims that Pierce County has been shorted its fair share of doses are an ongoing flashpoint between local Republican leaders and Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.
Spotty release of data is standard practice not just at JBLM but at all US military installations in the country and overseas; it stems from Department of Defense orders issued during the Trump Administration about a month into the pandemic. Today it means little vaccine information is shared beyond top-line numbers of doses delivered.
There’s no good reason for the Biden Administration to keep us in the dark. Military coronavirus data should be disclosed at the local level, including measurable details on progress by individual base commanders to vaccinate the troops.
We recently got a glimpse of the uphill climb they face, purely by accident. News Tribune military reporter Abbie Shull discovered an April 6 Facebook Live Townhall in which the commander of JBLM’s 62nd Air Wing acknowledged about 60 percent of the McChord Field population hadn’t been vaccinated.
That’s a discouraging percentage for a mission-critical unit that became eligible for the shots in early February. It also highlights concerns about vaccine hesitancy in the military. The Pentagon doesn’t require troops to roll up their sleeves nor track those who decline. Some members of Congress, including Tacoma Rep. Marilyn Strickland, have sought a vaccine mandate across the uniformed ranks.
Regardless of any requirement, we should all be concerned that reliable vaccination data is so hard to come by. Consider that JBLM has 38,000 service members and 59,000 family members living on and off base.
Washington Department of Health officials told us they’re drafting a letter, asking the Pentagon to share data in the state Immunization Information System.
US Sen. Patty Murray is also engaged on the issue, according to a spokesman for Washington state’s senior senator; he noted that she raised red flags with Trump’s defense secretaries last year.
We hope that Murray presses the Biden administration just as intently.
“As I’ve said, it’s critical that our armed forces work with local health officials here in the U.S. to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” Murray said in a statement Monday, “and they must also work closely with our local communities in order to maintain and build public trust.”
Sharing information is not only the honorable thing to do as a neighbor; it also could help clear up confusion. Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier, among others, remains fixed on the notion that the 253 has been deprived its full share of doses, pointing to a persistently low vaccination rate compared to the rest of Western Washington.
But Nick Streuli, the governor’s external affairs director, last week said this is a misperception fueled by factors outside the state’s control. One problem: Thousands of doses are distributed independently by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments and don’t show up in the state’s online vaccination reports.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department noted similar discrepancies. “Pierce County’s reported vaccination rate is lower than it would be if it included JBLM and VA data,” TPCHD spokesperson Steve Metcalf told us via email, adding that the VA has said it will start sharing local data.
JBLM provides aggregate dose totals to local health officials, Metcalf said, but it doesn’t differentiate those who’ve actually received the vaccine.
If this all seems like a lot of half-baked math equations, we know how you feel. Federal, state and local COVID-19 data can be convoluted; trying to keep it straight could make anyone’s head spin.
For us, it comes down to government transparency. Military communities are an important facet of understanding how this virus exploded last year and how we’re emerging from the crisis now.
Keeping a lockbox of confidential COVID-19 data, from infection numbers to vaccination rates, doesn’t seem critical for national security or military readiness. President Biden should unlock the box and throw away the key.
News Tribune editorials reflect the views of our Editorial Board and are written by opinion editor Matt Misterek. Other board members are: Stephanie Pedersen, News Tribune president and editor; Matt Driscoll, local columnist; and Jim Walton, community representative. The Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom and does not influence the work of news reporting and editing staffs. For questions about the board or our editorials, email matt.misterek@thenewstribune.com
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 11:00 AM.