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The Air Force has approved more than 2,000 COVID-19 vaccine exemptions for members of the Air National Guard, according to data released last week.
The bulk of those exemptions — 1,571 — are classified as administrative. The Air Guard accounts for the majority of the 1,837 administrative exemptions that have been approved across all Air Force components.
Another 466 medical exemptions have been approved, officials said. In all, the Air Force has granted 1,476 medical exemptions.
Approximately 93% of the 107,000-member Air Guard is at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19. Dec. 2 was the deadline for members of the Air Guard to be fully vaccinated.
Unvaccinated airmen without an approved or pending exemption face losing pay and benefits and being barred from drill. More than 2,500 religious accommodation requests are pending across the force, with more than 3,200 disapproved and just eight approved as of Feb. 7.
More than 87,000 airmen have reported cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with 50 airmen hospitalized and 12 killed. Counting service members, civilians, dependents and contractors, the service has reported more than 129,000 cases, with 95 hospitalizations and 156 deaths.
Last week, Army leaders announced they would begin involuntary administrative separation proceedings against soldiers who have refused the vaccine and do not have an approved or pending exemption. That applies to active-component soldiers, cadets and reserve-component soldiers serving on Title 10 active-duty.
The Air Force had administratively separated 142 active duty airmen as of Feb. 7.
Army Guard soldiers who are not on Title 10 orders have until June 30 to be vaccinated.
Several states have asked to have their Guard forces exempted from the vaccine mandate, only to have those efforts rebuffed by defense leaders. Two states, Alaska and Texas, are currently involved in a legal challenge of the mandate.
