In January of last year, a federal judge in Texas barred the Navy from taking any action against the Navy plaintiffs for being unvaccinated. “We're going from a 50-step process to a zero-step process?" Duncan asked. On Monday, Heather Hacker, an attorney for the Navy personnel, said the situation could be seen as worse now for them now that the older mandate policy has been rescinded, because current policy does not provide for a sailor's religious objections to the vaccine to be considered when deployment or assignment decisions are made. The Defense Department denied the process was onerous and said the Navy has a compelling interest in requiring vaccinations for personnel who often operate for long periods in “confined spaces that are ripe breeding grounds for respiratory illnesses.” Their lawyers have called a “sham” with applications being “categorically denied.” The Navy SEALS filed their lawsuit in November of 2021, describing what they saw as a cumbersome 50-step process to obtain religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine. Government lawyers argue the policy is in line with “well-established principles of judicial noninterference with core military decision making,” in their briefs. Military leaders have long argued that to maintain unit health and troop readiness, troops have for decades been required to get as many as 17 vaccines, particularly those who are deploying overseas.Īttorneys for the unvaccinated Navy personnel argued in briefs to the 5th Circuit that Austin’s memo and other Defense Department actions show that the Navy still intends to treat unvaccinated personnel “like second-class citizens because of their religious beliefs.” However, vaccine opponents note that commanders can still make decisions on how and whether to deploy unvaccinated troops, under a memo signed last month by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Pentagon formally dropped the requirement in January following a December vote in Congress to end the mandate. “Given the prevailing public health guidelines and the state of the virus, there is currently no intention to require universal vaccination of all service members,” Ross said.
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