WASHINGTON (AP) – Thousands of intelligence officers could soon be sacked for failing to meet the US government’s vaccine mandate, leading some Republican lawmakers to worry about the withdrawal of employees from agencies essential to national security .

By the end of October, several intelligence agencies had at least 20% of their workforce unvaccinated, said U.S. Representative Chris Stewart, a Republican from Utah on the House Intelligence Committee.

CIA Director William Burns publicly revealed last week that 97% of the agency’s agents had been vaccinated. The National Reconnaissance Office, which operates American spy satellites, has more than 90% of its workforce vaccinated.

But Stewart said some agencies in the 18-member intelligence community have up to 40% of their workforce unvaccinated. He cited information that the administration provided to the committee but which has not been made public. He declined to identify the agencies because complete information on vaccination rates was classified.

While many people will likely still be vaccinated before the administration’s Nov. 22 deadline for civilian workers, resistance to the warrant could leave key national security agencies unmanned. Intelligence officers are particularly difficult to replace due to the highly specialized work they perform and the difficulty in performing security clearance checks.

The office of the director of national intelligence has refused several requests to provide figures for the intelligence community. The office would also not say what contingency plans are in place in the event that officers are dismissed for breach of warrant.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines declined in a hearing last week to reveal what percentage of the workforce had been vaccinated, but said “we don’t anticipate this will be a problem for the mission.”

The vaccination rates provided by Stewart are mostly higher than those of the general population of the United States. About 70% of American adults are fully immunized, and 80% have received at least one dose of a vaccine. There are approximately 100,000 employees in the intelligence community.

Stewart called on the administration to approve more exemptions for people for medical, religious and other reasons, and to delay any dismissals of intelligence officers.

“My question is what is the impact on national security if we do this?” said Stewart. “You will potentially lay off thousands of people on the same day. And it’s not like you put an ad on Craigslist and people apply by Thursday.

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee say they are confident that the vaccination mandate will not pose a problem for the intelligence community. Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, said the agencies were doing “pretty well” and getting the shot was a sign of an employee’s preparedness.

“If someone is unwilling to do what is necessary to protect their own health and that of their unit, it calls into question their ability to do the job effectively,” Crow said in an interview.

President Joe Biden has issued several warrants to increase the vaccination rate in the United States affecting federal employees, contractors and healthcare workers. The White House has credited these mandates with increasing vaccination rates and reducing deaths from a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 people in the United States and 5 million people worldwide.

Federal regulators and independent health experts have certified that the available vaccines are safe. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that from April to July, unvaccinated people were 10 times more likely that vaccinated people are hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19.

Warrants to get vaccinated have faced significant resistance, especially given an already tight market for companies looking to hire workers. Some first responders have resisted vaccination warrants, as have employee unions, arguing that the warrants infringe personal freedom.

The Biden administration classified the information it provided to the intelligence committee on each of the country’s 18 intelligence agencies, said Stewart, who generally noted that agencies more closely affiliated with the military tended to report lower vaccination rates.

Several major agencies with large military components have all refused to provide their immunization rates at the request of the Associated Press, including the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The NGA, which produces intelligence from satellites and drones, said in a statement that it was “working to ensure that all members of the workforce understand the required process and documentation” before the deadline.

Stewart, a former Air Force pilot, was vaccinated but said he opposed the warrants as intrusive and counterproductive.

“If you say, ‘You have to do this and we won’t consider any exceptions to that,’ that’s where you get people to get started,” he said.

Rep. Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, echoed Stewart’s concerns at a hearing last week and told agency executives that the issue of unvaccinated employees “affects all of you and us in the world. world “.

Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that he supports the vaccination requirement for federal employees. “We need to use all the tools at our disposal to save lives and protect mission readiness,” Warner said.

Federal employees who are not vaccinated or who did not receive an exemption by November 22 could face a suspension of 14 days or less, followed by possible termination. The General Services Administration has informed agencies that “the unique operational needs of agencies and the circumstances affecting a particular employee may justify deviating from these guidelines if necessary.”

Steve Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies, said the vaccine’s mandate is still relatively new and he expects the numbers to change before the deadline for administration.

Morrison said that since intelligence agencies typically work with unvaccinated employees, “they’re going to need to show some flexibility on margins without compromising core strategy and goals.”

“To control this pandemic in the United States, you need to achieve a much higher level of immunization coverage,” Morrison said. “It’s a matter of national security.