![]() The most recent number for religious accommodations was 23, as of Nov. ![]() 5, the Corps had approved 420 administrative or medical exemptions to COVID-19 vaccination. The total number of waiver applications was not available, he said, but as of Jan. The Marine Corps tracks its data differently from the other services, spokesman Capt. In general, temporary medical exemptions can include while a service member is pregnant or breastfeeding, for example, or undergoing a medical issue or treatment that might negatively react with a vaccine. 9, the day before the mandate repeal, show 1,878 sailors were discharged. In the end, the Navy granted 168 medical exemptions, 153 of them temporary, as well as 50 religious accommodations. 10, according to service data, while granting 191 exemptions out of 10,699 requests. The Army discharged 1,881 soldiers before Jan. Overall, the Air Force approved 389 religious, administrative and medical exemptions for active duty troops. 10, when the mandate repeal came down, the Air Force had more than 3,100 religious accommodation requests pending, with another 30 appeals waiting for department approval. What it didn’t do was authorize them to automatically get their jobs back, or furnish any back pay for the time between their discharges and the mandate repeal, though some Republican lawmakers are still pushing for that legislation.Īs of Jan. The mandate’s end put a halt to any adverse actions against currently serving troops who had applied for exemptions, while opening the door for those involuntarily separated to apply to have their characterizations of service changed on their discharge paperwork. At the same time, Pentagon officials are still determining how to treat ― and possibly reprimand ― the remaining 7,000 troops who leaders say did not follow a lawful order. Separated troops are eligible to upgrade their discharges, or even come back into service if they want to. Of the 17,000 service members who refused to take the vaccine, roughly half have been discharged and another thousand or so secured exemptions. The now-lifted mandate’s aftermath is still playing out. “The Department has made COVID-19 vaccination as easy and convenient as possible, resulting in vaccines administered to over two million Service members and 96 percent of the force ― Active and Reserve ― being fully vaccinated.” “The Department will continue to promote and encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all Service members,” Austin wrote in the Jan. DoD officials believe the shots worked: Not a single service member has died of COVID-19 since early 2022, when more than 98% of the active duty force had been at least partially vaccinated. While the Pentagon lifted the vaccine mandate as ordered, officials warned that repealing it would affect military readiness, potentially putting service members at risk of serious illness. The more the controversy raged in the news, the more troops asked to skip the shots, Military Times reporting found. More than 17,000 service members balked at taking the shots, citing safety fears linked to the vaccine’s speedy development and spurred by misinformation about messenger ribonucleic acid technology, as well as concern over fetal cell lines used in formulation and testing. It also revealed how COVID disinformation spread and caught fire, stoking deepening mistrust of government among wide segments of American society. The controversy shows how healthcare became a political football, with both the far right and some on the left objecting to mandated COVID vaccinations, mask-wearing, and other government public health responses.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |