WASHINGTON, DC – On August 24, 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a memorandum to all Department of Defense employees requiring them to get the COVID shot, active military personnel are now walking away. But, as the memo concedes in one sentence buried in the middle of the directive, this “mandatory vaccination” demand is limited to a FDA-approve COVID shot, and, importantly, no such shot is available.
On August 24, Secretary Austin sent out the “Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members” in which he stated, “The Secretaries of the Military Departments should impose ambitious timelines for implementation. Military Departments will report regularly on vaccination completion using established systems for other mandatory vaccine reporting.” The mandate is scheduled to be in place by September 15 or sooner.
Significantly important, the memo also states, “Mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 will only use COVID-19 vaccines that receive full licensure from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in accordance with FDA-approved labeling and guidance.” (emphasis added)
There is currently NO FDA-approved COVID-19 shots available anywhere in the United States. Every COVID shot in America remains under authorization of emergency use, which means people have the “option to accept or refuse” them.
The following summarizes the current status of the Pfizer-BioNTech shots:
All existing Pfizer vials (in the hundreds of millions), remain under the federal Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) (meaning people have the “option to accept or refuse”);
The third or “booster” Pfizer shot is identical to the above and remains under the EUA with limited use to certain categories of people;
BioNTech received FDA approval for people ages 16 and above under the name Comirnaty, but there are no Comirnaty doses available in the United States;
In other words, there is currently NO FDA approved COVID-19 injection available anywhere in the United States. Every COVID shot in America remains under the EUA law and thus people have the “option to accept or refuse” them; and
Even when an FDA approved COVID shot becomes available, military members may assert their rights are protected by law from being forced to get these shots based on their sincere religious beliefs or conscience rights.
Despite this fact, U.S. troops are facing punishments ranging from nonjudicial punishment, lost rank and pay, to career-ending dishonorable discharges and time in a military brig for refusing the injections.
DOD Press Secretary John said, “And when an individual declines to take a mandatory vaccine, they will be given an opportunity to talk to both medical providers as well as their own chain of command so that they can fully understand the decision that they are making…There are ‘a range of options available to commanders short of charges being filed and punishment of any given kind,’ should it escalate to a disciplinary procedure. And this would be something that commanders would handle themselves. It wouldn’t be some top-down driven set policy for every case across the whole department. This would be something that commanders would be able to decide for themselves.” Congressman Thomas Massie has introduced H.R. 3860, a bill that would a bill to prohibit “any requirement that a member of the Armed Forces receive a vaccination against COVID-19.” As of August 27, his bill has picked up 31 co-sponsors, all of whom are Republicans, and has been referred to the House Armed Services Subcommittee. Army veteran Rep. Mark Green presented legislation which prohibits dishonorable discharges for troops who refuse the COVID-19 shot. It has now been added to the fiscal 2022 defense authorization bill passed by the House Armed Services Committee.
However, some military personnel have already begun to leave active service. On August 27, 12 pilots from the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, turned in their wings after they received a text message instructing them to submit to mandatory Covid-19 injections by 10:00 a.m. that day. The next day, 15 pilots of the 2nd Bomb Wing in Barksdale, Louisiana tendered letters of resignation after they, too, received orders to get the jab. The orders stated explicitly that any officer refusing a Covid-19 vaccination would lose his flight status and be subject to disciplinary action, including a potential dishonorable discharge from the service.
Many military personnel are also reaching out to Liberty Counsel for help with religious exemptions from this mandate.
One Army officer said that entire battalions are being called into formation and the names of vaccinated personnel are called out to fall out of the formation. At the formation they are calling off names of vaccinated personnel and having them fall out of the formation. After the vaccinated personnel fall out of formation, the unvaccinated soldiers are forced onto a bus to be taken to a vaccination site. Emails are also being passed around the chain of command with lists of vaccinated and unvaccinated persons- without permission from any person on the list to share their medical information.
“For 20 years, we missed birthdays, anniversaries and Christmases. We watched friends die in war. Many of us bled ourselves. After returning, we watched the mental toll take more of our friends through suicide. We have spent 20 years loving our country and putting the lives of our fellow citizens above our own,” Andy says. But now Biden and his vax- pushers are forcing these heroes to risk their lives in a different way—by injecting an experimental drug, the COVID shots.”
“I am in the military and at risk of losing a full retirement over this experimental, unnecessary treatment that appears to be driven by profit motive over health concerns,” a female service member writes. “Lord, please grant us freedom from this medical tyranny that threatens our bodies that you have created to be Your temple.”
“The news is reporting that all military personnel will have to receive the COVID Vax. They may make me get the vaccine or dishonorably discharge me. I have a lot to lose. Retirement, insurance. I have 5 kids and a wife, I cannot afford to lose my job. If nothing can be done, I may have to risk my health for the sake of my family’s security. I am active duty Air Force.”
“My husband, prior USMC, recently enlisted into the US Army. Unfortunately, he is continually being harassed and threatened to accept the COVID vaccine, which he has declined. They are threatening to take away leave, kick him out, and have currently restricted any of his family from attending his graduation because he is not vaccinated.” “I am deployed to XXXXX. We are being told that none of our Religious Exemptions will be approved. That putting one in is pointless. To me, this means that Freedom of Religion written in our Constitution is also pointless. We need help as our rights are being blatantly stripped from us and thrown in our faces. I am a patriot and do not wish to see our Constitution and Freedom of Religion trampled on.”
