(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – HAPPENING NOW: 14,000 service personnel from the Army National Guard may be axed by President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin later this week for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
The large-scale dismissal could occur after the Biden administration’s deadline for coronavirus vaccination expires on Thursday, June 30.
According to the Associated Press, the number of Army National Guard troops who Austin may dismiss could even be far higher — up to 40,000 — as many soldiers have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 yet. That is approximately 13% of the entire force.
For the time being, it has been estimated that about 14,000 troops have refused to get the coronavirus shots required by the Biden administration and could therefore be eligible for involuntary dismissal.
The report reveals that in six states, between 20% and 30% of the Army National Guard soldiers haven’t been vaccinated, while in 43 other states, the number is above 10%.
The COVID-19 vaccination requirement for the U.S. military was announced by President Joe Biden last summer. It was made official by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a memo in August 2021, in which he argued that mandatory coronavirus vaccines were “necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people.”
About 7,000 troops have applied for exemption from the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, primarily on religious grounds. Still, Guard leaders seem to be trying to convince even those troops to get the shots.
The coronavirus vaccination requirement for the U.S. military has remained in place even after January, when the U.S. Supreme Court killed the vaccination mandates issued by Biden’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which were supposed to force all companies with at least 100 employees to get their staff vaccinated.
Even though the Supreme Court declared the mandates unconstitutional, the ruling hasn’t extended to the Department of Defense.
The large-scale dismissal of thousands of unvaccinated Army National Guard soldiers appears to be quite likely, mainly because Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has rejected categorically a request by seven state governors to reconsider the vaccination mandates for the military.
