Navy will soon dismiss servicemembers who are unvaccinated without an exemption

The United States Navy has signalled that it will soon begin dismissing servicemembers who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine without an official exemption from it.

Servicemembers who fail to get vaccinated and who are not granted an exemption “will be processed for an honorable separation without involuntary separation,” a recently circulated memo declared, according to USNI News. 

Individuals who do not receive a vaccine “cannot be promoted, advance, reenlist or execute orders outside of ones involving separation,” the news service stated, while “any officer who refuses to be vaccinated will have any promotions delayed.”

The Navy will consider both medical and religious exemptions, though it will not consider naturally derived immunity to SARS-Cov-2 a legitimate reason to forgo the shot.