A US Forces officer gives a syringe of the Pfizer vaccine at a FEMA community vaccination center in Philadelphia. Mark Makela / Getty Images
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Adjutant General Thomas Mancino, who heads the Oklahoma National Guard, said members do not need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
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Mancino’s order directly contradicts a federal mandate from the Defense Ministry announced in August.
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The vaccination deadlines are imminent, but large sections of the military remain unvaccinated.
The Oklahoma National Guard leader posted a memo stating that no soldier needs to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
The move ordered by Adjutant General Thomas Mancino directly violates another federal mandate.
According to the memo the Oklahoman received last week, “no negative administrative or legal action will be taken” against members who choose not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Pentagon announced a vaccination mandate for all US soldiers in August, following an order from President Joe Biden that all federal employees must be fully vaccinated. The Pentagon mandate has staggered deadlines for different branches of the military to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The vaccination deadlines are imminent, but large sections of the military are still unvaccinated. In October, hundreds of thousands of service members were either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated against the virus.
The Defense Department’s mandate has met with backlash.
For example, a senior Republican legislature criticized the mandate, calling it a “haphazardly implemented and politically motivated” order.
“At a time when our adversaries are still building their quantitative and qualitative advantage over our armed forces, we should try to ensure that no policy, even inadvertently, interferes with military readiness,” said Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, Republican Chief of the Armed Forces Senate committee wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Inhofe said the mandate should be suspended immediately to avoid “irrevocable damage to our national security”.
The story goes on
Health officials have been saying for months that vaccines are very effective at reducing the risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19. In August, unvaccinated people were six times more likely to test positive and 11 times more likely to die from the disease than vaccinated people.
In response to the backlash, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby described the vaccine mandate as a lawful order, adding that failure to comply could result in disciplinary action, including separation from military service.
Insider’s Ryan Pickrell contributed to this report.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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