The Pentagon has withdrawn its mandate for all troops to have a coronavirus vaccine.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced in a memo Tuesday the official end of the requirement, but said commanders will continue to “promote and encourage” COVID-19 vaccines. The annual defense budget bill enacted in December demanded that the vaccine mandate be rescinded.
The Pentagon instituted the mandate in August 2021 after Pfizer’s vaccine was officially legal through the Food and Drug Administration. More than 2 million military workers, 96% of the military, active and reserve, have gained a COVID-19 vaccine.
Under the memorandum, no adverse action will be taken against service members who have requested exemptions to get vaccinated, and any service member who has obtained a letter of reprimand or other “adverse action” will be removed from their record.
Those who refused to be vaccinated and earned a general discharge can ask the Military Records Correction Council to review it, the memo does not specify what the registration correction might be or whether those released can simply enroll in the military.
The annual defense bill gave the Defense Department 30 days to rescind the vaccine mandate, and Austin served 20 days after President Joe Biden signed the legislation.
Anticipating the bill’s passage, Austin remained in favor of keeping the mandate. He told reporters in December that he had set the vaccine requirement first.
“I’m the guy who put that, that requirement,” Austin said, adding, “I continually vaccinate our troops. I know you’re not surprised. “
In his memo this week, Austin said that in the future, commanders will have the ability to prestige immunization when making decisions about deployments and assignments.
“The Department’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts will leave a lasting legacy in the many lives we have saved, the world-class strength we have been implementing, and the highest point of preparedness we have maintained, under challenging conditions of public fitness,” Austin said in his note.