After Medical and Religious Exemption Requests are Denied, Airmen Must Choose

The Air Force has released its procedures for those airmen and guardians with denied requests for medical, religious, or administrative exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement. Once their request has been refused, they have 5 days to become vaccinated, file an appeal, request separation, or begin retirement. Once their appeal to retire, separate, or be exempted is denied as well, they have 5 days to become vaccinated. If they refuse the vaccine at that point, then according to Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, they "will be subject to the initiation of administrative discharge". 

The move comes as little surprise given the events of the last 2 months. Many vaccine mandates have only been postponed in their enforcement as petitioners hoped that their requests on file would be approved. As the tremendous backlog is worked through, some have been surprised by the refusals. Those who refused the vaccine should not be surprised by the lack of accommodations, given the institutional demand for high vaccination rates throughout the services. The memo also stated that those unvaccinated personnel with approved accommodation will not be able to PCS to a new assignment, a consideration in line with Kendall's previous statements that such airmen may not even be deployable. 

The most recent data from the Air Force noted that 3,200 servicemen were verbally refusing the treatment, but over 10,500 had been in the process of requesting religious exemption. To date, not one exemption has been granted, even though Air Force policy requires a response within 30 business days. Medical exemptions granted in the force have numbered 2,222 in all, with the number expected to fall given the number of those given to pregnant personnel when their condition was a valid reason for accommodation. Administrative exemptions currently total 2,521 altogether, including those requesting retirement prior to the initial vaccination date. Those who have fallen through the cracks, i.e. servicemen listed as "not vaccinated" with no submitted requests or refusals, number 4,261 in total. 

Members whose first request has been denied can request a second medical opinion, or appeal to the final religious accommodation request authority. If eligible to retire, airmen may request a date on or before June 1, 2022 and will be placed on a no pay/no points status no later than 60 days after their appeal notification. Those facing separation will also lose involuntary separation pay, and will be "subject to recoupment of any unearned special or incentive pays". 

FMI: www.af.mil