U.S. Military Abolishes Covid Vaccine Mandate

On January 10th, the vaccination mandate on COVID was formally abandoned by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Under legislation enforced on December 23rd, 2022, Secretary of Defense Austin was required to revoke the mandate, which has now been officially abolished. The Department of Defense has halted all related personnel discharge activities, including the dismissal of service members who refused to receive COVID vaccination.

During COVID pandemic in August 2021, it is said that Secretary of Defense Austin imposed a compulsory COVID vaccine mandate for the military. As a result, more than 8,400 service members were discharged from the military for refusing to comply with the mandate. Thousands of people applied for vaccination exemptions based on both religious and medical grounds at the time.

On December 6th, 2022, a senior Marine Corps general reported that his enlist scheme had been thwarted by mandatory vaccination. McCarthy informed President Biden that if the vaccination requirement was not lifted, he would begin taking action in January. McCarthy was not yet elected speaker of the House of Representatives at the time.

A sizable portion of active-duty troops have received vaccinations in the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and the Army.