REPORT: Army and Air Force were slow to act on COVID-19 vaccine religious exemption requests – 13newsnow.com WVEC

More than 16,000 troops sought waivers. Just 339 were granted.

NORFOLK, Va. There are new questions about how the military handled thousands of cases where service members refused the COVID-19 vaccine because of "sincerely held religious beliefs."

A Marchreport from the Defense Department Inspector Generalfound that while the military branches largely followed policy when considering waivers for service members who sought religious exemptions from having to take the COVID-19 vaccine, the Army and Air Force did not meet the DOD time guidelines in processing those requests.

The Army has a 90-day deadline for processing requests but, the cases averaged 192 days to receive a decision.

In the Air Force, requests averaged 168 days to adjudicate, despite the deadline being 30 days.

Concerns raised by impacted service members prompted multiple lawsuits alleging that the DOD and service branches were blanketly denying religious waiver requests.

"That demonstrates outright religious hostility. That is afford to the Constitution and federal law." First Liberty Institute attorney Mike Berry told 13 News Now in January 2022.

Overall, the numbers are eye-opening. Of more than 16,000 religious exemption requests received, just 339 were approved. 13,387 were denied.

According toDefense Department statistics, more than 2 million military members did get their COVID shots.

But, according to the Associated Press over 8,400 troops were discharged due to non-compliance.

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REPORT: Army and Air Force were slow to act on COVID-19 vaccine religious exemption requests - 13newsnow.com WVEC