Service members’ attitudes towards vaccination: survey results

More than 66% of service members have not been vaccinated during their military service. Of these, 56.5% said this was because they had not been offered vaccination.

These are the findings of an anonymous survey conducted through the Army+ app at the initiative of the Office of the Military Ombudsman. The survey ran from 30 September to 13 October 2026 and was completed by nearly 60,000 service members.

The survey also revealed that service members lack information about vaccination. Only 20.3% of respondents believe they know enough about it. They would like to learn more about possible vaccine side effects (42.9%) and vaccine effectiveness (37.5%).

Service members trust information about vaccination from healthcare professionals the most (43.3%). Only 3.5% trust information from their command.

A clear explanation of the benefits of vaccination and its possible risks could persuade 46.2% of respondents to get vaccinated. Another 31.4% said that being confident in the vaccine’s quality and proper storage conditions was important to them. At the same time, one in six respondents said they would be willing to get vaccinated if they had an opportunity to recover afterwards.

Based on the survey results, the Office of the Military Ombudsman developed recommendations and sent them to the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

We recommend that military medical personnel organise information sessions and awareness sessions about the benefits and possible risks of vaccination.

We also recommend arranging vaccination directly at military unit locations, including with the involvement of mobile teams from healthcare facilities of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. Service members should be informed of vaccination schedules in advance, undergo a medical examination before vaccination, and be given time to recover afterwards.

Vaccination must be carried out with the service member’s consent. Refusal to be vaccinated cannot be grounds for imposing disciplinary measures or restrictions not provided for by law.

If the vaccination procedure protocols are violated, a service member may contact their unit commander or head of the medical service, or submit a complaint to the Office of the Military Ombudsman by emailing skarha@milomb.gov.ua or using the online form on the Office’s website.