As of Thursday, 103 Marines have been separated from the Marine Corps for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the Marine Corps told Marine Corps Times.
According to the online publication, 95 percent of the active duty Marine Corps is partially or fully vaccinated, and the Corps has approved 1,007 exemptions to the vaccine, Maj. Jim Stenger, a Marine Corps spokesman, told Marine Corps Times in an email. The Marines are the least vaccinated of any branch of the military.
All active duty members of the military had until Nov. 28 to be vaccinated or apply for an exemption. Those who failed the deadline are being processed out.
Previous threats of dishonorable or “other” discharge for not getting the vaccination are still legal but may not be for long. And reports indicate that the military is not dishonorably discharging these warriors. The National Defense Authorization Act, which passed Congress this week and awaits the president’s signature, prohibits punitive discharge of those not willing to get the shots.
The Marines report that 3,144 members have applied for religious exemptions, and none has been approved, according to Marine Corps Times.
The Air Force and Space Force had 96% of forces meet its Nov. 2 deadline, while the Navy reported that 96.3% of active duty sailors were fully vaccinated, the news group reported.
So far, 27 members of the Air Force have been kicked out of that branch so far, for similar refusal to be vaccinated.
