Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and 19 other senators are threatening not to vote for new defense spending unless there’s also a vote to end the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“We’re taking action today by saying we will not vote to get on the NDAA—the defense authorization bill—unless we have a vote on ending this military vaccine mandate. That’s it,” Paul told reporters during a Nov. 30 briefing in Washington.
Paul said the mandate doesn’t make sense because the COVID-19 vaccines don’t stop transmission. Additionally, he noted that young people face an elevated risk of heart inflammation—which can lead to death—following receipt of the vaccines, while facing little risk from COVID-19 itself. Further, many members have already had COVID-19, granting them a form of protection against reinfection and severe disease that many studies have determined is superior to the protection from the vaccines….