SECDEF: NG must take vaccine

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, in letters to seven governors that included Mississippi’s, is reaffirming the need for members of their states' Army and Air National Guards to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine or lose their Guard status. These letters have not yet been publicly released, but are nearly identical to those signed last week, according to The AP. Nearly 600 Marines, airmen and sailors have been thrown out of the military or dismissed from entry-level training as of last week. Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska filed lawsuits challenging the military's vaccine mandate, but a federal judge has already rejected an Oklahoma challenge. The Alaska governor was one of five Republican state leaders who sent a letter to Austin asking him not to enforce the mandate on National Guard troops. The other four were governors from Mississippi, Wyoming, Iowa and Nebraska. In the new letters, Austin changed a key word telling the governors that failure to get the vaccine "will" lead to prohibiting members from participating in drills and jeopardize their status. Texas has more t

han 20,000 National Guard members, the largest of any state. About 40 percent are refusing the vaccination, according to the lawsuit filed federal court in East Texas. The deadline for Air Guard members to get the shots has passed, but Army Guard members have until this June. (Source: The AP 02/02/22) Mississippi Army, Air National Guard troops must get COVID-19 vaccine (hattiesburgamerican.com)