More than 200 US Marines have been discharged from service due to their refusal to take any COVID-19 vaccine, the US Marine Corps (USMC) confirmed in a Thursday memo.
This week, 37 Marines were discharged over the Pentagon vaccine mandate, bringing the current total up to 206 service members since separations began in mid-December 2021.
Per the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, a service member cannot be dishonorably discharged over vaccine refusal alone.
As of Thursday, the USMC reported that it had reviewed and adjudicated 3,080 of 3,192 vaccine exemption requests submitted by Marines. Exemption requests are handled by The Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA) Department, headed by deputy commandant Lt. Gen. David Ottignon.
As for the majority of the USMC, around 95% of all active duty Marines have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while some 86% of those in the Reserve force have done the same.
The US Air Force and Navy notably shared a November 14 deadline for vaccine compliance, but only the former has moved to discharge troops. At least 27 airmen have been separated from service.
Compliance has also been up for the Air Force and the Navy, as 95% of airmen have been fully vaccinated against the highly-contagious disease, and 99% of all US sailors have received at least their first dose of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, 98% of the Army's active duty force has received at least one jab.
Both the Army and the Navy are projected to announce their first vaccine-related discharges later this month.