Pentagon may not immediately fire vaccine resisters
Biden administration officials say they will try to convince holdouts to comply
By John M. Donnelly
Posted October 29, 2021 at 7:00am
Facing criticism that mandates for coronavirus vaccinations could force the Defense Department to fire thousands of civilians, contractors and troops, the Biden administration is signaling that vaccine resisters may get more time to comply.
President Joe Biden and administration officials have previously said Pentagon employees and contractors have to be vaccinated or face termination on a series of upcoming deadlines. This has led to fears that thousands of people responsible for national defense may soon be forced out of their jobs. Virtually every day, Republican lawmakers decry what they describe as a national security crisis in the offing.
The deadlines for vaccination vary, depending on the type of employee. And they have not changed. The first of them arrives next week, on Nov. 2, for active-duty Air Force personnel, and official service figures show that some 4 percent of the active-duty Air Force is still not fully vaccinated.
Three administration officials in the last couple of days have described the deadlines not as the dates when an axe will fall but rather as the start of an education process designed to convince those who are resisting vaccination to reverse course.
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/10/29/pentagon-may-not-fire-vaccine-resisters-who-miss-upcoming-deadlines/
