Navy grants first religious vaccine exemption, while Marines grant a handful more

The Navy has become the third U.S. military service branch to grant a religious exemption for the coronavirus vaccine, though the approval rate for such requests remains a fraction of 1%.

One sailor in the Individual Ready Reserve had a religious exemption conditionally approved, though this person will need to get fully vaccinated if they’re called up to active-duty or reserve status, according to a Navy release. Additionally, the Marines have now granted six religious exemptions after having received 3,595 requests, which marks a 0.16% approval rate, according to a Thursday press release, though the number of approvals was three in the branch’s last update.