National Guard ‘Will Be Crippled’ by COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: Lawmaker

Jack Phillips
By Jack Phillips
July 25, 2022Vaccines
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National Guard ‘Will Be Crippled’ by COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: Lawmaker
Maryland National Guard PFC Keiry Pearla (R) administers a Moderna coronavirus vaccine at CASA de Maryland's Wheaton Welcome Center in Wheaton, Md., on May 21, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A Republican lawmaker on Monday warned that the National Guard’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate will possibly cripple the service weeks after Army officials announced that some 60,000 members won’t be allowed to partake in their duties.

“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,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a retired Army Green Beret, wrote for Fox News on Monday morning, saying that if the mandate is ultimately enforced, the Guard “will be crippled” due to a lack of staffing.

“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,” he wrote.

Combined with poor recruitment efforts, “woke indoctrination,” and mandates, Waltz said that the U.S. military is “being depleted” in the midst of the Chinese regime’s military buildup and the Russia–Ukraine conflict. At the same time, the United States is soon to enter both its hurricane season, which generally starts in August, and its wildfire season, the congressman said.

“Two things have changed since the mandate was implemented. First, the vaccine has shown to not stop the spread but rather reduce symptoms,” Waltz wrote. “Second, tens of thousands of National Guard and reservists have expressed serious reservations about the emergency development of the vaccine.”

And he added that “many of these service members have already been exposed to COVID-19 and last year’s defense bill specifically asks the department to consider whether previous exposures induce sustained antibody protection, which may produce similar levels of immunity as the vaccine.”

Earlier this month, the Army confirmed that 40,000 National Guard and 22,000 reserve soldiers who didn’t get the vaccine will be cut off from their duties.

“Soldiers who refuse the vaccination order without an approved or pending exemption request are subject to adverse administrative actions, including flags, bars to service, and official reprimands,” an Army spokesperson said in a statement.

A study published in JAMA found that at least 22 service members have suffered from serious vaccine-related side effects, including heart inflammation. Few service members, meanwhile, have been given religious exemptions, with only 20 being approved in the Army and six Guard soldiers having their religious exemptions approved.

Several Republican governors have vowed not to remove Guardsmen who remain unvaccinated. Last year, the governors of Wyoming, Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and Nebraska wrote in a letter to the Pentagon that the troops don’t need to follow federal military policy.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Pentagon for comment.

From The Epoch Times

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