Austin to Governors: Guard Troops Must Get COVID-19 Vaccine [View all]

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in letters to seven governors, is reaffirming the need for members of their states' Army and Air National Guards to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine or lose their Guard status.

In nearly identical letters signed late last week, Austin tells the governors that the virus “takes our service members out of the fight, temporarily or permanently, and jeopardizes our ability to meet mission requirements,” according to copies obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The letters, which have not been publicly released, come as the military services begin to ramp up the number of active-duty troops being discharged for refusing the vaccine. Nearly 600 Marines, airmen and sailors have been thrown out of the military or dismissed from entry-level training at boot camps as of last week.

Two of the letters — to Alaska and Texas state leaders — note that they have an ongoing lawsuit over the vaccine and that, Austin said, limited his ability to comment further on their concerns.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/02/01/austin-governors-guard-troops-must-get-covid-19-vaccine.html