| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Great Cultural Revolution |
| Pentagon: Service Members Can Request Exemptions From COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate |
| 2021-08-12 |
| [EpochTimes] U.S. military service members will be allowed to seek an exemption from the soon-to-be-mandated COVID-19 vaccines, which would be determined by individual military service regulations, a Pentagon spokesperson said. "There is a religious exemption possibility for any mandatory vaccine, and there’s a process that we go through to counsel the individual both from a medical and from a command perspective about using a religious exemption," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said during a press briefing on Aug. 10. The department would make sure that every individual with reservations gets proper counseling on the COVID-19 vaccine’s safety and efficacy, Kirby said. Both a medical professional and a commander would counsel the individual about the risks of not being vaccinated and how that might affect deployability, assignments, travel, teammates, and the mission. "We take freedom of religion and worship seriously in the military. It’s one of the things that we sign up to defend," Kirby said. "And so it’s something that’s done very carefully." Service members also will be able to apply for medical exemptions, Kirby said. "The primary care physician will be able to help make that determination," he added. A service member can’t request an exemption just because he or she doesn’t want to take the vaccine, Kirby said. "You’ve got to go through a process to get that approved. Troops who have pre-existing medical conditions, or on the advice of their physician might not have to take the vaccine," Kirby told Fox News on Aug. 10. "But if you’re just objecting because you’re objecting, once it’s become mandatory, that’s a lawful order, and our expectation is that you’re going to obey that order." "Nobody is looking for strong, punitive disciplinary measures here. Frankly, we believe that most troops will respond positively to the order, just like they do in every other mission-critical order that they’re issued. But there are tools available to commanders, short of disciplinary action, to try to get soldiers to do the right thing." Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Aug. 9 that the Department of Defense would require all active-duty military members to get a COVID-19 vaccine. According to Pentagon, more than 73 percent of active-duty military members have received at least one shot of the vaccine to date. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #3 They weren't drafted so they "volunteer" to be vaxxed or get out. |
| Posted by: magpie 2021-08-12 19:39 |
| #2 ...I wanna meet the dude or dudette who somehow got through initial enlistment processing with a religious exemption for vaccinations. Then I want to meet the idiot who authorized it. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2021-08-12 09:24 |
| #1 Of course. A nice piece of paper in your record that will affect future promotion decisions and probably VA benefits as well. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2021-08-12 06:15 |