|
 After the Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer/BioNTech
vaccine in August, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered
(https://media.defense.gov/2021/
Aug/25/2002838826/-1/-1/0/
MEMORANDUM-FOR-MANDATORY-CORONAVIRUS-DISEASE-2019-VACCINATION-OF-DEPARTMENT-OF-DEFENSE-SERVICE-MEMBERS.PDF)
that all active duty service members must get vaccinated.
The Army said it had begun implementing this order in late August,
adding that soldiers could request an exemption on legitimate
medical, religious or administrative grounds.
However, commanders, command sergeants major, first sergeants and
officers in Command Select List positions who refuse to be
vaccinated and are not pending an exemption request would face
suspension and relief if they refuse to comply, the Army said in a
statement.
"While soldiers who refuse the vaccine will first be counseled by
their chain of command and medical providers, continued failure to
comply could result in administrative or non-judicial punishment –
to include relief of duties or discharge," it said.
[to top of second column] |
 "This is quite literally a
matter of life and death for our soldiers, their
families and the communities in which we live,"
U.S. Army Surgeon General Raymond Scott Dingle
said, citing concern over the spread of the
highly contagious Delta variant.
As of last week, the U.S. Department of Defense
had reported
https://www.defense.gov/Explore/
Spotlight/Coronavirus-DOD-Response over 353,000
COVID-19 cases across its personnel and more
than 450 deaths.
The Army now expects its active duty units to be
fully vaccinated by Dec. 15, and its Reserve and
National Guard units by June 30 of next year.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Gdansk; Editing
by Himani Sarkar)
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