The U.S. Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate is undercutting military readiness, Florida’s adjutant general said in a recent op-ed.
Military members were ordered in 2021 to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Deadlines for all the branches arrived before the end of the year. National Guard personnel and reservists were allowed to wait until mid-2022, but those who aren’t vaccinated and haven’t received an exemption were cut off from their paychecks in July and threatened with possible separation if they don’t get vaccinated.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other military leaders have said the mandate was imposed to ensure military readiness. The mandate “is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people,” Austin said in a memorandum to senior leaders in August 2021….