At least 260,000 American troops — or about 13 percent of the 2.1 million total force — are not fully vaccinated despite a Biden administration vaccine mandate for the military, and many of them could face discharge.
According to the Department of Defense website, at least 268,858 service members as of July 13 are still not in compliance with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s August 2021 mandate for every member of the military to be fully vaccinated with two doses of a vaccine. That figure does not count the thousands who have not taken any doses.
Only about 20,000 of the more than 260,000 have received a temporary or permanent exemption, according to the latest statistics provided by the services. That means the rest face discharge from the military at a time the services are struggling to find new recruits.
So far, there have been 95 military deaths from coronavirus, with 412,766 who have had it and recovered, according to DOD statistics. Read more…
