Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for service commanders to enforce the COVID-19 vaccine mandate with compassion when unvaccinated service members face punitive measures as the deadline approaches, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday. According to the latest data issued by the Pentagon, nearly 60,000 active duty service members are still not vaccinated as of late last week. Officials said the numbers change daily and include those who may have gotten or requested an exemption. “The secretary has been very clear with the leaders of the military departments that he wants them to execute the mandate with a sense of compassion and understanding,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday. “I know he’s made this clear to them that he knows, as a former commander himself, that leaders have a range of tools available to them, to help troops make the right decisions for themselves, for the units, for the families—short …