Marines are being dumped for refusing to submit to Pentagon’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate
An additional 45 US Marines have reportedly been kicked out of the service in the past week for refusing to comply with the Pentagon’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate, bringing total firings over the jabs to more than 300.
The Marine Corps has taken a tough stand against recalcitrant troops, saying all unvaccinated members who don’t have an exemption application or appeal pending are being processed for removal. According to US Naval Institute the number of total firings exceeds the mandate by 334.
There was a small confusion over the number of troops discharged last week, after officials “inadvertently counted Marines who had not yet been separated, and Marines who had been separated for other misconduct,” the USMC spokesman said, according to the Epoch Times.
More than 600 Marines were granted medical or administrative exemptions. However, nearly all religious exemption requests have been denied. The Marine Corps Times reports that only two out of the 3,212 requests for exemption from religious mandates had been granted as of last week.
In firing on members refusing to receive Covid-19 shots, the USMC is amongst the most assertive military branches. The USMC is also the most resistant to jabs, as only 5% of active-duty soldiers and 13% of reserve troops are fully immunized.
Under a Pentagon directive issued in August to all US military branches, active-duty Marines had to have Covid-19 vaccinations by November 14. Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary, tested positive earlier this month for the virus. However, he said that his symptoms were not severe because he had been double-vaccinated. The jab mandate will continue to be in force.
President Joe Biden’s administration continues to face an onslaught of legal challenges to its vaccine mandates. An earlier Texas federal judge ruled in favor 35 US Navy personnel, saying that it was unconstitutional for them to be punished because they sought a religious exemption from mandatory vaccination.
Last week, the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s order that private-sector employers force their workers to get vaccinated. A federal judge from Texas stopped enforcement of the federal jab mandate to federal employees on Friday.
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