U.S. Army begins to discharge soldiers who refuse COVID-19 vaccination NPR - https://tinyurl.com/3b8meyuk U.S. Army soldiers who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19 will soon be discharged, the military branch announced Wednesday. The Army said it will "immediately begin separating Soldiers from the service" who refuse to be vaccinated or who don't have an approved or pending request for exemption. "Army readiness depends on Soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation's wars," said Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth. "Unvaccinated Soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness." Soldiers who are discharged for refusing to be vaccinated "will not be eligible for involuntary separation pay" and may have to return any unearned special or incentive pay, the Army said. As of Jan. 26, it said, 96% of active troops have been completely vaccinated, while 3,350 soldiers have refused to get the vaccine. Nearly 5,900 have received temporary exemptions. Those who have asked for a medical exemption or religious accommodations are temporarily exempt from the vaccination requirement while their requests are being reviewed. "To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six Regular Army leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,073 general officer written reprimands to Soldiers for refusing the vaccination order," the Army said late last month. The Pentagon began requiring members of the military to get vaccinated last summer.
Well anti-vaxxers don't deserve sweet delicious Hershey's chocolate. Let these whiners go "boycott" all they want. #BoycottHersheys trends after chocolate giant slammed for firing unvaxxed employees https://meaww.com/boycott-hersheys-chocolate-company-slammed-for-firing-unvaxxed-employees
Even Europe’s anti-vaxxers have to admit: Vaccine mandates really work https://fortune.com/2021/08/24/europe-anti-vaxxers-vaccine-mandates-really-work/
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal publicly declared Thursday that in his opinion no one “should be forced” to take a vaccine, and hit back at a reporter who claimed that Americans are not being made to take shots. Speaking on his podcast, Shaq said “Look, I encourage everyone to be safe and take care of your family; I do. But there are still some people that don’t want to take it. And you shouldn’t have to be forced to take something you don’t want.” When his CBS reporter guest Nischelle Turner tried to argue that vaccine mandates do not constitute forcing people to take the shots, O’Neal disagreed. “It is forced. Because if the man don’t take it, the man gonna get fired,” he shot back. https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/shaquille-oneal-speaks-out-against-vaccine-mandates
There are three areas where I approve of vaccine mandates because they are key groups of our infrastructure and they protect the country: Military, Healthcare workers that get funding from the government and Federal Employees. The military has a special place with me and we take an oath upon entry along with getting our entry vaccinations to stay healthy to execute that duty. Those that change their mind after entry should be discharged from the military. I'm curious how many of the 3,073 were planning to exit the military prior to finding out that they needed to be vaccinated and how many were eligible for retirement and then given the opportunity to take early retirement to be able to keep all of their military retirement benefits. In addition, I'm curious about how many are stationed overseas that require vaccinations anyway to perform their duty. wrbtrader