U.S. Army Begins Discharging Soldiers Who Refuse COVID Vaccine

The U.S. Army, which is moving soldiers into Ukraine as tensions rise with Russia on the Eastern border, announced Wednesday it would immediately discharge soldiers who refuse to get the COVID vaccine, according to a Reuters report.

The Army said in its statement that discharge order applies to regular Army soldiers, active duty Army reservists and cadets, unless a soldier has an approved or pending exemption.

“Army readiness depends on Soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars,” said Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth in a statement. “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 order states that service members who refuse the vaccine will not be "eligible for involuntary separation pay" and they may have to repay unearned incentive money.

Covid 19 vaccination record card and personal facemask on US Army military uniform. Individual record for use during the covid 19 coronavirus global pandemic

While it's unclear how many U.S. Army soldiers aren't vaccinated, as of January 26, the Army had discharged six leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,073 written reprimands to soldiers who had refused the vaccine.

In December, the U.S. Air Force discharged 27 service members for refusing to be vaccinated. In January, the U.S. Navy said it had discharged 23 active-duty sailors for vaccine refusal. A total of 334 Marines had been discharged as of mid-January.

According to the latest Department of Defense data, 92 members of the military have died due to COVID since March 2020. It's estimated that 98% of the U.S. military's active-duty force is vaccinated. As of mid-January, the Military Times reported that 41 of 88 military COVID deaths had been from Army Reserve and National Guardsmen.