Nearly every soldier in the U.S. Army – 97 percent – is fully immunized against Covid-19, bringing the service to almost full compliance with the Department of Defense vaccine mandate, according to the military branch.
Only 3 percent of active duty soldiers in the Army have not fully complied with the Pentagon‘s August 2021 regulation that all troops get their jabs.
They have until the end of June to get their shots, plus booster or be booted from the service.
Each branch set their own deadlines ahead of the mid-summer date, with the Army requiring that all soldiers start their vaccination process by December 15, 2021.
Army commanders have written 3,409 written reprimands, admonishing troops for not getting their shots.
In January, the Army reprimanded six active-duty commanders for refusing to comply with the order.
There were 570 soldiers that did not heed the warning and were booted from the service for refusing the lawful order of getting the full vaccine regime.
After the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued the vaccine order, 4,346 troops requested religious exemptions and 727 soldiers asked for medical waivers from the shots.
Austin told the armed forces that vaccines were crucial to force readiness. Troops deployed overseas sometimes have had to get as many as 17 different immunization shots.
Of those asking, only 22 soldiers got a medical exemption and only 8 received religious exemptions, according to the cable news channel. There are still 3,494 waiver requests still pending.
The Army is not releasing the immunization rates for Army Reserve or National Guard after some outfits refused the order. The DOD has been pressure those units by prohibiting them from training and withholding pay.
About 70 percent of the troops ordered out of the Army for non-compliance with the vaccine mandate have received general discharges, according to the Military Times.
This still allows them to get veterans benefits and rejoin if they choose.
The remaining discharges, 30 percent, received honorable discharges, according to testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, though it was unclear why one set of troops received higher discharge honors.
So far, the Marine Corps has seen the most separations due to vaccine refusal, 1,968, about one percent of the branch’s members.
The Navy let 798 sailors go, about .02 percent of the fleet.
The Air Force grounded 287 airman, .04 percent of the service, releasing most of them from the service with general discharges.
Across the military, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have discharged as many as 4,000 active duty service members for refusing the vaccine
Three cadets at the US Air Force Academy who have refused the COVID-19 vaccine will not be commissioned as military officers but will graduate with bachelor’s degrees (File photo)
On Saturday, three cadets who refused to be vaccinated were denied commissions after graduating from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
A fourth cadet caved and received his shot last week.
All cadets are required to get measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations when they begin the academy and yearly flu shots.
According to Lt. Col. Brian Maguire, an Air Force Academy spokesman, the former airmen may be required to pay for the cost of their tuition, which is free in exchange for military service after the academy. The cost can be as much as $200,000, or more.
Austin is scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the May 25 ceremony .
