Washington, D.C. — Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02) led a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin requesting a response to his unanswered letter of August 23, 2022, regarding military vaccine mandates. The original letter questions Austin's decision to continue imposing mandates following the release of updated Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance that barely differentiates between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. “Since our still-unanswered August letter to Secretary Austin, President Biden has declared the pandemic over, yet military leaders continue to hold patriotic Americans desiring to serve their country hostage with unnecessary vaccine mandates,” said Moore. “If this administration believes military vaccine mandates continue to be justified despite revised CDC guidance and clear direct damage to our force readiness, Secretary Austin must make clear to Congress and the American people the science and decision-making process he is relying upon. Without this information, the American people will justifiably believe our military is sacrificing their welfare for wokeness.” Signing Rep. Moore’s letter are Reps. Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Mary Miller (IL-15), Ben Cline (VA-06), Russ Fulcher (ID-01) and Byron Donalds (FL-19). BACKGROUND: On August 19, 2021, the Secretary of Defense directed the Military to “immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.” On August 11, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 guidance to ease recommendations for people who are unvaccinated and have been exposed to COVID-19, essentially the same recommendation as those who have been vaccinated. Despite every branch of our military struggling to meet recruitment goals, Secretary Austin has continued to stand behind the COVID vaccination mandate which not only will require the discharge of trained and competent servicemembers but harm future recruitment. On August 1, 2022, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall penned a letter to all Airmen, Guardians, civilian employees, and families that concludes with commending them as they “met and defeated the pandemic.” If that is the case, it is worth questioning why the Air Force has not abandoned its vaccine mandate, particularly given the CDC’s new guidance and its own study showing natural immunity from prior infection granted stronger levels of protection against the Delta variant of COVID-19 than vaccination alone. On October 15, 2021, Moore wrote a letter to the Secretary of Defense urging him to delay the COVID-19 vaccination requirements for members of the military and civilian contractors until a full review of concerns from the medical community on potential health risks from the vaccine can be completed and evaluated. ### |
