Deadline Looms for Unvaccinated Air Force Personnel

Oct. 29, 2021 — The Air Force should resolve in coming weeks tips on how to self-discipline about 12,000 airmen who’ve rejected orders to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The deadline for airmen to be totally vaccinated is Tuesday, Nov. 2. Those who aren’t vaccinated might face escalating ranges of self-discipline, together with being kicked out of the service or prosecuted within the army’s judicial system.

Readiness issues might happen if the Air Force has to self-discipline a lot of unvaccinated airmen in very important jobs, similar to pilots, Katherine L. Kuzminski, a army coverage professional on the Center for a New American Security, advised The Washington Post.

“The fact that it’s a choice leading to potential loss to readiness is striking,” she mentioned.

The Air Force has about 324,000 active-duty airmen and says greater than 96% of them are totally vaccinated. Some of them could also be in search of non secular exemptions, however Pentagon spokesman John Kirby advised the Post that usually a really small variety of such exemptions are granted within the army.

How the Air Force handles the deadline is being intently watched by different branches of the U.S. army which have later vaccination deadlines, the newspaper reported.

Kirby mentioned about 87% of active-duty troops are totally vaccinated however hesitancy amongst reservists and National Guard members brings down the general vaccination stage to about 68%.

Judge Temporarily Halts Firings for Vaccine Mandate Violations

A federal decide in Washington, D.C., on Thursday issued a short lived restraining order that forestalls the Biden administration from firing active-duty army personnel and civilian federal staff whereas their requests for non secular exemptions from vaccine mandates are being thought-about or appealed, Fox News reported.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly dominated after 20 individuals sued Biden over his Sept. 9 government order mandating vaccinations for federal staff.

NYC Vaccine Mandate Upheld in Court

A decide has rejected a request from the New York City police union that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vaccine mandate be placed on maintain, CBS News reported.

De Blasio’s order says all metropolis staff, together with first responders, must be totally vaccinated by Friday or else they may face disciplinary motion, together with dismissal from their jobs.

The Police Benevolent Association requested a short lived restraining order, saying the town coverage doesn’t present enough non secular or medical exemptions and doesn’t give unvaccinated officers sufficient time to use for exemptions, CBS News mentioned.

In a press release, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch mentioned the ruling “sets up the city for a real crisis” as a result of it’s going to end in fewer officers being obtainable to work.