The U.S. military's vaccine mandate is shameful

The Federalist’s Gabriel Powell writes, “Berkeley Simmons’s husband has requested a religious accommodation to the U.S. military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. She’s worried about what comes next for her family—and the Marine Corps. ‘It’s like a big old cloud that’s just heavily draped around so many people’s necks. Are they going to approve the exemptions or not? …What are we going to do? What happens when there’s no money?’ she wonders.

The Corps does offer a definite answer—a Marine who has requested an exemption can still choose to receive a vaccine. Simmons points out the palpable irony of the situation: Marines who ‘took an oath to protect and defend our country from enemies foreign and domestic and fight for the freedoms of the Constitution’ are now being denied one of its most cherished rights, ‘religious liberty.’

Was this the goal all along? A military that abandons science for fanaticism has a serious vulnerability. Even Gen. George Washington recognized natural immunity and did not inoculate soldiers who had already recovered from small pox. This is shameful.https://t.co/ePNcXQCLb1

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 23, 2021

To date, the U.S. Marine Corps has not granted a single religious accommodation to its COVID-19 requirement, despite its policy to do so unless there is a ‘compelling government interest.’ According to several Marines going through the process, it does not intend to do so, and will kick them out once the vaccination deadline passes, stripping them of veterans’ benefits.

In June 2021, Rep. Thomas Massie R-Kentucky, introduced HR 3860, a bill that would prohibit any vaccine mandate in the military, after receiving calls from constituents in the military who were facing adverse conditions based on their vaccination status. Massie’s bill would prohibit a vaccination mandate in the military and prevent any adverse actions from being taken against military members who chose not to receive the vaccine.”

Read the entire column.