Amid a nationwide resurgence of coronavirus with infections and hospitalization on the rise, an Alabama congressman is urging President Joe Biden to end a general order at Fort Rucker requiring military personnel in uniform to wear masks unless they show proof they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Citing individual freedom and claiming the government was violating "doctor-patient confidentiality," Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said in a letter to the president the mask-mandate on base was "discrimination."
“The government should not try to intimidate or coerce anyone into receiving the vaccine. Furthermore, it is none of the government’s business who has or has not been vaccinated,” Brooks said in a statement. “Infringing upon doctor-patient confidentiality is discriminatory and wholly un-American. President Biden, as Commander In Chief, has the ultimate authority to overrule this terrible policy. I urge him to do so immediately.”
Across the country, coronavirus cases have gone up 171% and hospitalizations are up 49% over the last 14 days. In Alabama, cases are up 280% and hospitalizations are up 82%, according to a New York Times analysis.
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In his letter to President Biden, Brooks questioned the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, claimed wearing masks could cause cancer, and said there was new evidence that made it clear there are risks associated with the vaccines “particularly in young people.” The Congressman presented those assertions without citing any evidence.
The Alabama Department of Public Health recently reported 94% of COVID-19 hospital patients and 96% of Alabamians who have died of COVID-19 since April were not fully vaccinated.
Only 33.9% of Alabamans have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the lowest in the nation. For people age 18 and over, 42.6% of people in Alabama have been fully vaccinated, ahead of just Wyoming, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
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Fort Rucker became the first military installation in the country to require military personnel in uniform to wear masks unless they could prove they had been vaccinated against COVID-19 earlier this month.
In a video posted July 12, Fort Rucker Commanding General Gen. David Francis explained the reasons behind General Order 12.
“Due to the rising rates in the counties around us and some on Fort Rucker, we’re now implementing G.O. number 12,” Francis said in the video. “The big difference is going to be that if you are not wearing a mask, the leadership will be able to ask you, ask soldiers, to prove that they’ve been vaccinated by showing their vaccination card.”
The order applies only to uniformed military personnel on the military base. It stresses that the decision to get vaccinated “remains an individual choice.”
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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