The U.S. Air Force announced Monday that 27 active-duty members were discharged for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Air Force had given its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine. Thousands applied for exemptions and refused to get the shot.
Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, told AP News that these members are the first to be administratively discharged over the vaccine.
Stefanek said “all of them were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel”. They were not able to receive a hearing before their discharge.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced it would require the vaccine for all members of the military. Each branch had its own deadlines and procedures for enforcing the mandate.
AP News reported that “None of the 27 airmen sought any type of exemption, medical, administrative or religious”.
97% of active-duty members have received at least one dose of the vaccine. In the Air Force, more than 1,000 have refused the vaccine and over 4,000 requested an exemption.
In an October letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) wrote “At a time when our adversaries continue to increase their quantitative and qualitative advantage against our forces, we should seek to ensure that no policy, even unintentionally, hinders military readiness”.