Guard leaders say states are doing all they can to encourage soldiers to get vaccinated by the time limit.
And they said they will work with the roughly 7,000 who have sought exemptions, which are almost all for religious reasons."We’re going to give every soldier every opportunity to get vaccinated and continue their military career. Every soldier that is pending an exemption, we will continue to support them through their process," said Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, director of the Army National Guard, in an Associated Press interview.
To make it more complicated, however, Guard soldiers on state activate duty may not have to be vaccinated — based on the requirements in their states. As long as they remain in state duty status, they can be paid by the state and used for state missions.At least seven governors formally asked Austin to reconsider or not enforce the vaccine mandate for National Guard members, and some filed or signed on to lawsuits.
Others may have promised to bring in vaccine paperwork, and haven’t done it yet. Still others are on the books, but haven’t yet reported to basic training, so don’t have to be vaccinated until they get there. It’s not clear how many are in each category."For the first time now, in this pandemic, nearly every American can now have access to life-saving vaccines. And we're ready," President Joe Biden said on Tuesday from Washington, D.C.
Overall, according to the data obtained by the AP, about 85% of all Army Guard soldiers are fully vaccinated. Officials said that if those with one shot are counted, 87% are at least partially vaccinated. Guard leaders in the states have run special shot programs, and provided as much information as possible to their forces in order to keep them on the job.
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