The US Navy said on Wednesday it had fired 240 military personnel who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, despite a Pentagon directive put in place last summer.
The vast majority will, however, be eligible for veterans benefits. This concerns precisely 218 soldiers, having completed their training, among whom all were in active service, with the exception of one who was a reservist. Having joined the military less than six months ago, the other 22 unvaccinated service members were simply discharged from training, the United States Navy said in a statement.
8,000 unvaccinated sailors
The US Navy has granted no less than 310 exemptions to various active duty personnel. Among these, 10 permanent medical exemptions, 250 temporary medical exemptions and 50 administrative exemptions.
Religious grounds were also one of the grounds for possible exemptions, but the US Navy says it has not granted any of the 4,000 requests for religious grounds so far, whether for active duty or military service members. Reserve.
About 8,000 Navy personnel remained unvaccinated as of Wednesday, the statement said, when the deadline was Nov. 28 for active-duty service members and Dec. 28 for reservists.
Although the US Navy announced at the end of August that there would be penalties for those who failed to comply with the Pentagon’s vaccine directive, it was not until December that the military learned that they would be fired. This announcement took place the same week that members of the Air Force and the Marine Corps (which is placed under the authority of the Navy) were pushed out for not being vaccinated.
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