US military personnel reluctant to get vaccinated against the coronavirus may not be guaranteed protections or leniency in how they are dismissed from the armed forces, Military Times reported, citing Defence and Veterans Affairs officials.
It will be local commanders who make decisions on whether to give such individuals other-than-honourable discharges - something that could potentially lead to one losing their veteran benefits.
“We see the vaccine as a readiness issue”, said Gil Cisneros, Defence Department undersecretary for personnel. “Any discharge decision is up to the individual service as to how they proceed with that”.
Cisneros said he is aware of concerns that many active-duty personnel have in regard to the vaccine mandate, but remains adamant that the mandate is needed anyway.
Earlier this week, the Air Force released vaccination statistics showing that while 95.9% of active-duty personnel and 90.5% of those in reserve have been fully vaccinated, around 8,500 troops failed to meet the 2 November deadline for getting a jab, and almost 5,000 of those are seeking a religious exemption.
Cases of individuals who refuse to get a jab will be evaluated by those granting veteran benefits to weigh the “mitigating or extenuating circumstances, performance and accomplishments during their service, the nature of the infraction and the character of their service at the time of their discharge”. According to the report, vaccine refusals will not be handled differently or separately in any way.
Earlier, in September, a proposal to punish troops refusing to get vaccinated with dishonourable or other-than-honourable discharges was blocked by the US House of Representatives, with lawmakers deeming the measure too severe for the offence.