Sen. Johnson Blasts Austin for Discharging Service Members Over Biden Vaccine Mandate
Breitbart News reports that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, blasting him for discharging service members who have not obeyed his “ambiguous” vaccine mandate.
In October, Johnson wrote that he sent a letter to Austin about his August 24 vaccine mandate, noting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) admitted there is an insufficient “approved supply of Comirnaty, the only fully-licensed vaccine.” Johnson demanded to know, given this limited supply, how Austin will make service members comply with the vaccine mandate.
“Despite this lack of clarity, DoD has reportedly begun discharging service members ‘for not obeying orders to get vaccinated,’” Johnson wrote. “Reports indicate that on December 13, 2021, the Air Force discharged 27 service members for noncompliance with the DoD’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. An Air Force spokeswoman stated that these 27 individuals were the first active- duty Air Force Members to be discharged over the Pentagon’s vaccination requirements for military members.’ The discharge classification of these 27 veterans is uncertain, as is their eligibility for veteran benefits.
“Despite my and other concerned individuals’ attempts to get clarity about your COVID- 19 vaccine mandate, you have ignored our requests for information, and instead have allowed DoD to discharge service members for not obeying your ambiguous mandate,” Johnson added.
Now, Sen. Johnson demands that Austin explain:
- Please provide the number of doses of the fully-licensed Comirnaty vaccine that have been given and are available to active-duty military personnel.
- Will DoD provide a vaccination waiver acknowledging natural immunity to active-duty military personnel who have been previously infected with COVID-19? If not, why not?
- Please provide the total number of active-duty military personnel who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine and, of those, how many have received a medical or religious exemption.
- Please provide the total number of active-duty military personnel, broken down by branch, who have been subject to a discharge procedure for noncompliance with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Please identify the types of discharge procedures.
Johnson has said that every person has the “right-to-choose” regarding whether they should take coronavirus vaccines.