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The Army has granted its first permanent religion-based exemption from taking the mandatory coronavirus vaccine, according to data the service released on Friday.
The waiver for an active-component soldier comes some three months after the Army’s deadline for full-time troops to become fully vaccinated against the virus.
Meanwhile, no waiver requests for any reason from Army National Guard soldiers have been granted or denied to date, according to a National Guard Bureau spokesman. Army Guard and Army Reserve personnel not on Title 10 orders have until June 30 to become fully vaccinated.
Army officials have denied 536 religion-based waiver requests from 3,760 active-component soldiers seeking such an exemption, according to the data.
They have also denied the vast majority of requests for permanent medical exemptions, granting only seven of 689 applications, with just 32 still pending.
Meanwhile, the Army has yet to discharge any soldiers for refusing the vaccine weeks after the service said it would begin kicking out troops who do not take the shots. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth ordered active-component commanders Jan. 31 to begin the process to involuntarily separate some vaccine refusers “as expeditiously as possible.”
Army data indicates that 2,791 active-component soldiers have refused the vaccine.
The Army is the only service that has yet to involuntarily separate personnel solely for refusing the order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Those denied exemptions have seven days to start the vaccination process or file an appeal of their denial before commanders are to begin the process of kicking them out, according to Wormuth’s order.
While no soldier has been separated, active-component commanders have relieved six leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,183 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for refusing the vaccination order.
The data published Friday indicates Army officials have also granted seven medical-based exemptions for active-component soldiers while denying 657 such requests.
Approximately 96% of the Army’s roughly 486,000 active-component soldiers are fully vaccinated and another 1% were partially inoculated, the service said Friday. About 86% of Army Reserve soldiers are fully vaccinated, according to the data, which did include the rate for the Army Guard.
The Army is the third service to grant a member an exemption for “sincerely held religious beliefs.” In total, officials have now granted 26 religious waivers for active-component personnel across the military, according to data from each service.
The Marine Corps has approved six religious waivers, while the Air Force has granted 19. The Navy has yet to approve any religion-based accommodations for active-component sailors, according to the most recent Pentagon data.
The deadline for all Air Guard personnel to be vaccinated has passed. The NGB spokesman said 1,651 requests for religious accommodation have been received; four have been completed, all disapproved. Two are on appeal.
The Air Guard has approved 421 medical and 1,431 administrative exemptions, according to the latest Air Force data. The active-component Air Force and Air Force Reserve have granted only 255 administrative waivers combined.
Administrative exemptions are determined individually. For example, if a member obtained a commander-approved submission for separation or retirement by Nov. 1, they are administratively exempt, according to the Air Force officials.
