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October 29, 2021 – The Air Force will have to decide in the coming weeks how to discipline about 12,000 pilots who have refused orders to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The deadline for the pilots to be fully vaccinated is Tuesday, November 2. Those who are not vaccinated may face an escalating level of discipline, including expulsion or persecution in the military judiciary.
There may be problems with readiness if the Air Force has to discipline a large number of unvaccinated pilots in vital jobs, such as pilots, said Catherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert at the Center for New American Security. The Washington Post.
“The fact that this is a choice leading to a potential loss of readiness is astounding,” she said.
The Air Force has about 324,000 active pilots and says more than 96% of them have been fully vaccinated. Some may be looking for religious exceptions, but Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Post that, in general, a very small number of such exceptions are provided in the military.
How the air force is coping with the deadline is being closely monitored by other branches of the US military, which have later deadlines for vaccination, the newspaper writes.
Kirby said about 87 percent of the military is fully vaccinated, but fluctuations among reservists and members of the National Guard have reduced the overall level of vaccination to about 68 percent.
A judge temporarily suspends dismissals for violations of the vaccine mandate
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a temporary restraining order Thursday that barred the Biden administration from firing military and civilian federal officials while their requests for religious exemptions from vaccine mandates are being considered or appealed, Fox News reported.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kolar-Kotelli ruled after 20 people tried Biden for his September 9 executive order ordering vaccinations by federal officials.
The vaccine mandate in New York has been confirmed in court
A judge rejected a request by the New York police union to postpone Mayor Bill de Blasio’s mandate for a vaccine, CBS News reported.
De Blasio’s order says all city officials, including first aid workers, must be fully vaccinated by Friday, otherwise they could face disciplinary action, including dismissal.
The police charity has requested a temporary restraining order, saying city policy does not provide enough religious or medical exceptions and does not give unvaccinated employees enough time to apply for release, CBS News reported.
In a statement, the president of the Police Charity Association, Patrick J. Lynch said the decision “sets the city in a real crisis” because it will lead to fewer employees able to work.
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