Air Force Granted Eight COVID Vax Religious Exemptions Out of 5,786

The United States Air Force has started ruling on COVID-19 vaccine religious exemptions, allowing eight and denying more than 3,000.

QUICK FACTS:
  • Airmen in the United States Air Force have begun to hear back on religious exemptions, with 8 out of 5,786 exemptions granted as of Tuesday.
  • The Air Force rejected 3,665 exemption requests and granted a religious accommodation appeal, according to The Daily Caller.
  • According to the publication, the air force has “administratively separated 142 active-duty Airmen” due to vaccine mandates.
  • The Air Force issued a mandate for Airmen in early September 2021 which made it difficult for religious exemptions to the vaccine, despite the thousands of requests.
STATEMENT FROM THE GOVERNMENT:
  • “The Department of the Air Force determined the service members’ accommodations could be supported with no impact to mission readiness,” Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said in a statement.
  • “To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force,” the memo stated. “After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people,” the Department of Defense said in an August, 2021 memorandum.
BACKGROUND:
  • Religious exemption requests from military members have exposed not only the vaccine hesitancy amongst America’s military but the government’s unwillingness to allow for those religious beliefs.
  • According to The Daily Caller News Foundation, a recent conversation with a marine seeking an exemption revealed the opinion of some military members that the exemption requests are a “sham.”

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