Monday 23 May 2022 08:49 PM U.S. Army reports 97% immunization rate and discharges 669 soldiers for being ... trends now
Nearly every soldier in the U.S. Army - 97 percent - is fully immunized against Covid-19, bringing the service to almost full compliance with the Department of Defense vaccine mandate, according to the military branch.
Only 3 percent of active duty soldiers in the Army have not fully complied with the Pentagon's August 2021 regulation that all troops get their jabs.
They have until the end of June to get their shots, plus booster or be booted from the service.
Each branch set their own deadlines ahead of the mid-summer date, with Army requiring all soldiers start their vaccination process by December 15, 2021.
Army commanders have written 3,409 written reprimands, admonishing troops for not getting their shots.
In January, the Army reprimanded six active-duty commanders for refusing to comply with the order.
There were 570 soldiers that did not heed the warning and were booted from the service for refusing the lawful order of getting the full vaccine regime.
After the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued the vaccine order, 4,346 troops requested religious exemptions and 727 soldiers asked for medical waivers from the shots.
Austin told the armed forces that vaccines were crucial to force readiness. Troops deployed overseas sometimes have had to get as many as 17 different immunization shots.
Of those asking, only 22 soldiers got a medical exemption and only 8 received
