The US Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, putting ...
The US Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, putting more than 3,300 service members - or about 3 percent of the largest military branch - at risk of being thrown out.
The Army's announcement makes it the final military service to lay out its discharge policy for vaccine refusers. The branch's deadline for vaccinations was December 15.
The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy have already discharged active-duty troops or entry-level personnel at boot camps for refusing the shots. So far, the Army hasn't discharged any.
According to data released by the Army last week, 3,350 soldiers have refused to get the vaccine. Another 3,600 have requested medical or religious exemptions.
Roughly 97 percent of all Army soldiers have gotten at least one shot.
Last week, the Navy announced it had fired 45 sailors for refusing the vaccine. The Marine Corps has discharged 334, the US Naval Institute reported last month.
The Air Force said last month that it had fired 27 service members.
The Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine
More than 1.62 million US military service members are vaccinated, according to the DoD
'Unvaccinated Soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness,' said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in a directive issued Wednesday
About 97 percent of all Army soldiers have gotten at least one shot and more than 3,000 have requested medical or religious exemptions.
In August, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin publicly announced a vaccine mandate for all service members, but allowed each service to set its own deadline.
The services, urgently trying to keep the coronavirus pandemic in check by getting troops vaccinated, remain besieged with exemption requests they are unlikely to approve.
In an update issued January 26, the Navy said it had let go of 23 Active Component sailors and 22 entry-level sailors, who were separated during initial training in their first 180 days of service.
The branch has issued 10 permanent medical exemptions, 259 temporary medical exemptions and 59 administrative exemptions to active-duty service members. No religious accommodation requests have been approved.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone aged 5 and up gets a COVID-19 vaccine 'as soon as possible.'
In December, the Air Force said it had dismissed 27 service members for not getting the vaccine, CNN reported, while 37 people in basic training had already been removed, making for a total of 64 separations.
The branch had the earliest vaccine mandate deadline, which was set for November 2.
About 97.5 percent of active duty Air Force members are now fully vaccinated, according to the branch's latest numbers.
In the Marine Corps, five percent of service members remained unvaccinated as of January 20, according to the US Naval Institute, a non-profit, private military association.
The total was four percent when counting partial vaccination.
The Marines has adjudicated 3,293 requests out of 3,376 religious exemption requests, but only only two had been approved at the time.
The service approved 635 medical or administrative exemptions and fired 334 Marines for refusing to get the shot.
The Coast Guard had a deadline of November 22. By the end of the year, 94.4 percent of active-duty members were fully vaccinated, the US Naval Institute reported on January 3.
About 95.3 percent had received one shot. The branch hadn't fired anyone at that point.
The Army has said that more than 3,000 soldiers have been issued official written reprimands, which suggests they are already identified in the disciplinary process, and some of them could be among the first to be discharged.
Meanwhile, more than 3,600 have asked for religious or medical exemptions, according to a tally from January 26. Of those, only six permanent medical exemptions have been approved, while more than 5,800 temporary exemptions were granted.
The Pentagon has ordered all service members - active-duty, National Guard and Reserves - to get the vaccine, saying it is critical to maintaining the health and readiness of the force. COVID-19 cases continue to surge around the country as a result of the omicron variant.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth issued the directive Wednesday ordering commanders to begin involuntary separation proceedings against those who have refused the shots and do not have a pending or approved exemption.
The Marine Corps has discharged at least 334 Marines for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Above, Marines attend a funeral service for NYPD officer Wilbert Mora on Wednesday
Last week, the Navy announced it had fired 45 people for refusing the vaccine. Above, Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Mike Ganousis fires an M4A1 carbine during an exercise on January 23 aboard the USS Harry S. Truman
'Army readiness depends on soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation's wars,' she said.
'Unvaccinated soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness. We will begin involuntary separation proceedings for Soldiers who refuse the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption.'
The order includes active-duty soldiers, reserves serving on active duty, and cadets at the Military Academy at West Point, its preparatory school and ROTC.
The detailed order said soldiers will be discharged for misconduct, and noted that those who are eligible to retire may do so before July 1.
Overall, more than 650 Marines, airmen and sailors have been thrown out of the military or dismissed from entry-level training at boot camps, according to data released in the past two weeks by the services.
The military services have been going through a methodical process to deal with those who refuse the vaccine as well as those who request medical, administrative or religious exemptions.
The reviews require counseling with medical personnel and chaplains as well as senior commanders.
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