Court Blocks Navy From Booting 35 Vaccine Refusers

The Associated Press reports:

A federal judge in Texas has granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Navy from acting against 35 sailors for refusing on religious grounds to comply with an order to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The injunction is a new challenge to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to make vaccinations mandatory for all members of the military. The vaccination requirement allows for exemptions on religious and other grounds, but none of the thousands of requests for religious waivers so far have been granted.

There was no indication that the order would affect service members beyond the 35 sailors who sued Austin and the Navy.

Read the full article. The judge is a Bush II appointee. The Navy says that 98.5% of all active duty sailors have been vaccinated.

A federal judge in Texas has temporarily stopped the Navy from acting against 35 sailors who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 on religious grounds. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor says the Navy’s process for considering exemptions is flawed. https://t.co/77qc6c44rV

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 4, 2022