Only 43 of more than 8,000 discharged from US military for refusing Covid vaccine have rejoined

Only 43 of the more than 8,000 US service members who were discharged from the military for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 have sought to rejoin eight months after the vaccine mandate was officially repealed, according to data provided by the military branches.

Many Republicans argued that the vaccine mandate hurt military recruiting and retention efforts, which was part of the rationale for forcing the Defense Department to cancel the vaccine requirement. The military mandated the vaccine between for only 15 months from August 2021 through January 2023, when it was rescinded by law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It marked perhaps the first time in US military history that a vaccine requirement was reversed.

But since the repeal, only 19 soldiers have rejoined the Army, while 12 have returned to the Marines, according to service spokespeople. The numbers are even smaller for the Air Force and Navy, where only one and two have rejoined, respectively, the services said.

While Republicans have pointed to the vaccine mandate creating a retention issue, the Defense Department says all of the military services had surpassed their retention goals for the first 10 months of the 2023 fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2022. The services have exceeded retention goals even as the military has faced challenges in recruiting new service members.

J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the numbers as "minuscule" and said, "it helps put the issue to bed, I hope."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mandated the vaccine for all service members after it received approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Some Republican lawmakers railed against the mandate, despite the Covid-19 vaccine being one of more than 15 vaccines required by the Defense Department.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, as part of the ongoing fight over his hold on more than 300 military nominees, insisted that the vaccine mandate had "damaged readiness" and "depleted the ranks" of the force.