By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau
The Oregon National Guard is barring members who have not followed orders to be vaccinated against COVID-19 from taking part in military duties, officials have confirmed.
The action could lead to termination or delays in pay and some benefits, according to a U.S. Department of Defense announcement. Continued refusal could lead to separation from the military altogether.
“This is a lawful order and is in line with other required vaccinations for readiness of the force,” Lt. Col. Stephen Bomar, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard, said Thursday. “As with other mandatory vaccinations, legitimate medical and religious exemptions will be acknowledged with respect, compassion and dignity.”
The Department of Defense issued an order in August 2021 that all military personnel be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Army said the announcement this week would affect about 62,000 service members out of a total force of over 1 million soldiers. About 97% of the 8,000 members of the Oregon National Guard have complied with the order by getting vaccinated, starting the vaccination process, or going through the administrative approvals to get exemptions or accommodations, Bomar said.
The Oregon National Guard declined to provide an exact number of members not in compliance or seeking waivers, citing privacy and appeals processes.
If 97% of the Oregon National Guard is in compliance, that would leave 3%, or about 240 members. Bomar said decisions on exemptions are scheduled to be completed by Oct. 1.
“No adverse actions will take place against Guard members with pending or approved exemption requests,” Bomar said.
If a service member’s permanent medical exemption or religious accommodation request is denied they have the right to appeal that decision within 30 days. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the service member has the option of being vaccinated or being considered to have refused the order to be vaccinated.
Summer is the time when many National Guard units go through their mandatory two-week training, often working with active-duty personnel. Ahead of those assignments, the U.S. Army announced plans to enforce vaccination deadlines that had been previously announced.
“Members of the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve who have refused the lawful Department of Defense COVID-19 vaccination order without an approved or pending exemption may not participate in federally funded drills and training and will not receive pay or retirement credit,” according to the Army statement on Thursday.
The order has the biggest impact on the Army, which accounts for just under half of all uniformed personnel and 75% of all National Guard members. The overwhelming majority of service members have complied with the order. The Army has just over 1 million soldiers in service, with 480,000 on active duty. There are 336,000 National Guard members and 189,500 U.S. Army reservists.
The Pentagon said 40,000 National Guard members and 22,000 reservists were not yet in compliance with the order.
Since the pandemic spread to the United States in early 2020, the U.S. Defense Department has worried about the impact of the virus on military readiness around the globe. Non-uniformed personnel were moved off-base at many installations. Troops went through quarantine periods before and after deployments overseas.
Initially, the military reported high-profile outbreaks, particularly in the contained spaces of Navy ships at sea. An outbreak in 2020 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt infected over 1,000 sailors, about a quarter of the crew. One sailor died and the ship was quarantined for two months in Guam, with readiness maintained by the crew rotating between the land base and ship.
Once vaccines became available in late 2020, the Pentagon put an early priority on ensuring the inoculation of active-duty forces. Vaccination was required of uniformed personnel under an order issued in August 2021. Effective July 1 of this year, the Pentagon said National Guard and reservists would not be allowed to drill or deploy with their units if unvaccinated.
Following the Department of Defense order last August, much of the focus has been on compliance with activity duty units. The Army said that as of June 21, it had discharged or accepted the retirements of 1,037 soldiers for “refusing the lawful order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”
- The Oregon Capital Bureau in Salem is staffed by reporters from EO Media and Pamplin Media Group and provides state government and political news to their newspapers and media around Oregon, including YachatsNews.com