BY JENNIE TAER
- Marine Corps officers seeking religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the process for vetting their accommodation requests is a “sham.”
- The military says the vaccine mandate is in place to keep the force “healthy and ready.”
- Republican California Congressman Darrell Issa has been advocating on the service members’ behalf, arguing that if the military wants to preserve readiness, it should pause the mandate.
The COVID-19 vaccine exemption process in the Marine Corps gives no consideration to the faiths of individual soldiers and could hamper military readiness, according to Marines fighting the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate on religious grounds who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation anonymously out of fear of retribution.
As of Friday, 95% of active duty members of the Marine Corps were fully vaccinated, and another 2% were partially vaccinated, Department of Defense (DOD) spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz told the DCNF. A total of 334 Marines have been separated with a vaccine refusal discharge code. The Marine Corps has received 3,538 religious exemption requests, and only three were approved, out of 3,414 requests that were processed.
