The U.S. Army announced on Wednesday that it will begin to discharge soldiers who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Army said in a statement that it "will immediately begin separating Soldiers" that have refused to be vaccinated.
Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth has issued that commanders begin to "initiate involuntary administrative separation proceedings" for any of the soldiers refusing the COVID-19 order or who do not have an approved or pending exemption request.
The order applies to regular Army Soldiers, reserve-component Soldiers serving on Title 10 active-duty, and cadets.
“Army readiness depends on Soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars,” Wormuth said. “Unvaccinated Soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness. We will begin involuntary separation proceedings for Soldiers who refuse the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption.”
The Army said that soldiers who are discharged for refusing to be vaccinated "will not be eligible for involuntary separation pay and may be subject to recoupment of any unearned special or incentive pays."
As of Jan. 26, 96% of the active Army have been fully vaccinated. There have been 3,350 soldiers that have refused to be vaccinated, and 5,870 soldiers have received temporary exemptions.
"Army commanders have relieved a total of six regular Army leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,073 general officer written reprimands to Soldiers for refusing the vaccination order."
The Pentagon made it mandatory for all service members to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in August 2021.
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