Air Force discharges 27 for refusal to get COVID vaccine

27 people were discharged from the Air Force for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. They are believed to be the first service members to be removed for disobeying the COVID vaccine mandate.

Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said on Monday that the forces were asked to get the vaccine by November 2, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption. The 27 people are the first airmen to be administratively discharged for reasons involving the vaccine. 

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Stefanek said all of them were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel, and none of them sought any type of exemption, medical, administrative or religious.

Several officials from the other services said they believe that so far only the Air Force has gotten this far along in the process and discharged people over the vaccine refusal. As a result, they were formally removed from service for failure to obey an order. Stefanek said it is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, but all had the vaccine refusal as one of the elements of their discharge.

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Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced a vaccine mandate for all members of the military, including active duty, National Guard and the Reserves.

Each of the services set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force set the earliest deadline. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to a national security crisis.

With inputs from Associated Press