On Thursday, the U.S. Marine Corps announced that 103 of its members had been discharged over their refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Jim Stenger said in an emailed statement that service members had been separated and the “vaccine refusal” discharge code was applied.
Active-duty Marines had until Nov. 28 to get vaccinated, while reservists still have until Dec. 28.
The “Marines said that refusing to get vaccinated by the deadline would be processed for separation”, The Hill reported.
Refusal of the vaccine involves someone who doesn’t have an approved exemption or pending appeal. The 103 service members “received and willfully disobeyed a lawful order”.
Stenger reported that, as of Wednesday, 95 percent of active-duty Marines are at least partially vaccinated. 94 percent are fully vaccinated and 81 percent of reservists are fully vaccinated.
The Marine Corps has approved 1,007 vaccine exemptions, Stenger added. 2,863 out of 3,144 religious exemptions have been processed and none have been approved.
Other branches of the military have begun discharging service members that refuse to comply with the vaccine mandate.
The Air Force recently discharged 27 personnel for not getting vaccinated and the Army relieved six active-duty leaders.