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 politicized the pandemic has become in the United States.

“Racism, suicide, addiction to conspiracy theories — you name it. If you can find it in the civilian population, you can find it within the military,” said Peter Feaver, a political scientist at Duke University who specializes in civil-military relations. “The difference is that the military has a wider range of tools to include more day-to-day control over the lives of its members … to monitor and manage these problems.”…

It’s not just the rank and file or recent recruits refusing to be vaccinated. The holdouts also include officers and service members who are close to retirement and run the risk of losing their pensions.