July 25, 2022 5:00am EDT
COVID vaccine mandates from Biden admin may cripple National Guard
Crippling our military over the vaccine mandate is irresponsible
By Rep. Michael Waltz | Fox News
For decades, the National Guard has served as the backbone of saving Americans across the country in times of crisis.
Whether it’s helping coordinate hurricane responses, training our allies abroad, responding to domestic civil unrest, fighting wildfires, or establishing COVID-19 field hospitals and treating patients – they’ve been there for us.
But when the next crisis comes to our shores, the U.S. will lack the number Guardsmen and women to come to our rescue.
June 30 marked Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s arbitrary deadline for members of the National Guard and Reserves to receive the COVID-19 vaccine despite Congress’ mandate that the Department of Defense establish uniform procedures under which service members can be exempted.
Should Secretary Austin enforce this mandate on service members who have opted not to get vaccinated due to personal health reasons or religious exemptions, the National Guard will be crippled.
To date, approximately 60,000 National Guard and Reserves remain unvaccinated and the pending decision from the Biden administration could punish the very service members who have been on the front lines of fighting this pandemic.
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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/covid-vaccine-mandates-biden-admin-cripple-national-guard
