U.S. service members who don’t receive the COVID-19 vaccine will reportedly risk their veteran’s benefits and a lenient dismissal.
Nonvaccinated individuals may receive other-than-honorable discharges if deemed required by local commanders, according to a report citing Defense and Veterans Affairs officials. Individuals in these cases will be ineligible to receive a preferential evaluation for benefits, the report stated.
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“We see the vaccine as a readiness issue,” said Gil Cisneros, Defense Department undersecretary for personnel. “Any discharge decision is up to the individual service as to how they proceed with that.”
Roughly 3% of airmen bypassed the Nov. 2 vaccine deadline Wednesday, according to officials from the Air and Space forces. Other military branches have comparable deadlines approaching, the Military Times reported.
Concerns from a small portion of active-duty service members are acknowledged, but Cisneros said officials maintain a mandate is necessary.
The Defense Department has no intention of placing dispensation or special programs for service members dismissed for declining the vaccine, the report stated.
Those individuals will be assessed by benefit officials within the department to weigh “mitigating or extenuating circumstances, performance, and accomplishments during their service, the nature of the infraction and the character of their service at the time of their discharge,” said VA Deputy Secretary Donald Remy.
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Such protocol is standard procedure for all veterans, and vaccine refusals will not be handled differently, according to the report.
