The Air Force announced Monday that it has discharged 27 service members for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.
Air Force personnel had a November 2 deadline. The branch’s most recent figures show that more than 1,000 airmen have refused the shot and that more than 4,700 have applied for a religious exemption.
All of the 27 people were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel. None of them sought any type of exemption, medical, administrative or religious, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
As a result, they were formally removed from service for failure to obey an order. Stefanek said it is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, but all had the vaccine refusal as one of the elements of their discharge.
According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon earlier this year required the vaccine for all members of the military, including active duty, the National Guard, and the Reserves.
Each of the service branches set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force set the earliest deadline.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to a national security crisis.
Members of the Navy and the Marine Corps had until Nov. 28 to get the shots and their Reserve members have until Dec. 28. Army active-duty soldiers have until Wednesday, and members of the Army National Guard and the Reserves have the most time to be vaccinated, with a deadline of next June 30.
