{"id":45046,"date":"2023-01-18T22:52:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T22:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/01\/18\/navy-officially-stops-booting-and-disciplining-covid-vaccine-refusers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:56:41","slug":"navy-officially-stops-booting-and-disciplining-covid-vaccine-refusers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2023\/01\/18\/navy-officially-stops-booting-and-disciplining-covid-vaccine-refusers\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy officially stops booting and disciplining COVID vaccine refusers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy has officially stopped separating sailors who refuse the COVID vaccine, a fleetwide order that follows Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Jan. 10 directive to end the mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mynavyhr.navy.mil\/Portals\/55\/Messages\/NAVADMIN\/NAV2023\/NAV23005.txt?ver=a3G5K2LQwybusE7ETK7uLQ%3d%3d\" target=\"_blank\">Jan. 11 naval administrative message<\/a>, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman noted that all commands will \u201cimmediately discontinue administrative separation processing of Navy Service Members solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, including those with approved separation letters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NAVADMIN also states that \u201call commands will immediately suspend any new adverse administrative actions associated with refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More guidance regarding the policy shift will be sent in a future NAVADMIN, the message states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy had booted 1,639 active duty sailors and 402 Reserve sailors for refusing the vaccine as of Nov. 30, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/Resources\/COVID-19-Updates\/\" target=\"_blank\">Navy\u2019s COVID page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/01\/10\/austin-ends-the-militarys-covid-19-vaccine-mandate\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vaccine.jpg_edf8c4.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Austin ends the military\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine mandate<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Defense Department will no longer require currently serving troops to be vaccinated against COVID-19.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon\u2019s about-face on the COVID vaccine mandate is due to a provision in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that directed Austin to rescind his 2021 memo mandating the vaccine for servicemembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Department will continue to promote and encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all Service members,\u201d Austin wrote in a memo this month ending the mandate. \u201cThe Department has made COVID-19 vaccination as easy and convenient as possible, resulting in vaccines administered to over two million Service members and 96 percent of the force \u2015 Active and Reserve \u2015 being fully vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, 96 active and reserve servicemembers died of COVID-19 complications from early 2020 to early 2022. Of those, 93 were unvaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some lawmakers wanted troops who refused the vaccine to be reinstated with back pay, but such a provision did not end up in the final version of the defense bill, Military Times reported earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Austin\u2019s memo orders the services to remove any flags on the personnel records of troops who are not yet vaccinated and to rescind any letters of reprimand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But unvaccinated troops could still be prohibited from taking on certain assignments or deployments, including when vaccination is required in a foreign nation, Austin wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those who received general discharges, under honorable conditions, for failing to obey orders to get vaccinated will be able to petition their service\u2019s discharge review or records authorities to upgrade their discharge characterizations, Austin\u2019s memo states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additional guidance will come from the Pentagon\u2019s personnel chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Department\u2019s COVID-19 vaccination efforts will leave a lasting legacy in the many lives we saved, the world-class Force we have been able to field, and the high level of readiness we have maintained, amidst difficult public health conditions,\u201d Austin wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Military Times reporter Meghann Myers contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded the vaccine mandate earlier this 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Navy officially stops booting and disciplining COVID vaccine refusers - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded the vaccine mandate earlier this month.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navy officially stops booting and disciplining COVID vaccine refusers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded the vaccine mandate earlier this month.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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