Air Force discharges 27 for refusal to get COVID vaccine

WASHINGTON – The Air Force has discharged 27 radical for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials judge are the archetypal work members to beryllium removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.

The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands person either refused oregon sought an exemption. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday that these are the archetypal airmen to beryllium administratively discharged for reasons involving the vaccine.

She said each of them were successful their archetypal word of enlistment, truthful they were younger, lower-ranking personnel. And portion the Air Force does not disclose what benignant of discharge a work subordinate gets, authorities moving its mode done Congress limits the subject to giving troops successful vaccine refusal cases an honorable discharge oregon wide discharge nether honorable conditions.

The Pentagon earlier this twelvemonth required the vaccine for each members of the military, including progressive duty, National Guard and the Reserves. Each of the services acceptable its ain deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force acceptable the earliest deadline. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is captious to maintaining the wellness of the unit and its quality to respond to an nationalist information crisis.

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None of the 27 airmen sought immoderate benignant of exemption, medical, administrative oregon religious, Stefanek said. Several officials from the different services said they judge that truthful acold lone the Air Force has gotten this acold on successful the process and discharged radical implicit the vaccine refusal.

As a result, they were formally removed from work for nonaccomplishment to obey an order. Stefanek said it is besides imaginable that immoderate had different infractions connected their records, but each had the vaccine refusal arsenic 1 of the elements of their discharge.

It is not antithetic for members of the subject to beryllium thrown retired of the work for disobeying an order— subject is simply a cardinal tenet of the equipped services. As a comparison, Stefanek said that successful the archetypal 3 quarters of 2021, astir 1,800 airmen were discharged for nonaccomplishment to travel orders.

According to the latest Air Force data, much than 1,000 airmen person refused the changeable and much than 4,700 are seeking a spiritual exemption. As of past week, a spot much than 97% of the progressive work Air Force had gotten astatine slightest 1 shot.

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Members of the Navy and the Marine Corps had until Nov. 28 to get the shots and their Reserve members person until Dec. 28. Army progressive work soldiers person until Wednesday, and members of the Army National Guard and the Reserves person the astir clip to beryllium vaccinated, with a deadline of adjacent June 30.

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