Texas’ National Guard members have refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine as per state officials, posing a new challenge to United States President Joe Biden’s mandate. Media reports suggest that thousands of National Guard personnel have denied taking the vaccine. 

A lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton comes a week after a federal judge rejected a similar challenge brought by Oklahoma’s governor, amid growing Republican opposition to the vaccination mandate for Guard members.

Texas has the biggest force of National Guard in the United States, with the strength reaching up to 20,000, according to reports from Associated Press. The lawsuit filed in the federal court says that about 40% of the National Guard members have refused coronavirus vaccines for “either religious accommodation needs or otherwise.”

Also Read: US Army to announce single super vaccine for all COVID variants

The federal court lawsuit also said that 200 airmen from the lone star state’s National Guard have also been refusing the vaccine.

Other challenges to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to make vaccinations mandatory for all members of the military are playing out elsewhere. On Monday, another federal judge in Texas granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Navy from acting against 35 sailors for refusing on religious grounds to comply with the order.

In December 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott told the Department of Defense chief Lloyd Austin that the state will not compel its National Guard personnel to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate set by United States President Joe Biden.

Abbott, a member of the Republican party, said in a statement, “If unvaccinated guardsmen suffer any adverse consequences within the State of Texas, they will have only President Biden and his Administration to blame”, according to reports from Associated Press.

So far, the Pentagon has received at least five statements from GOP governors about their disagreement with the federal vaccine mandates.

(With AP inputs)