The Air Force this week signed off on nine requests for religious exemptions for its COVID-19 vaccine requirement, the first since the measure went into effect in 2021.
Eight requests were approved by the service members’ commander, while one was approved in an appeal to the Air Force surgeon general.
Air Force officials released no other information about the requests or what distinguished the nine that were approved amid hundreds of others that were turned down, according to Air Force Magazine.
“The Department of the Air Force determined the service members’ accommodations could be supported with no impact to mission readiness,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told the magazine in a statement.
The nine Air Force personnel who were granted a religious exemption joined a select group in the U.S. military. Before their requests were approved, the only other military members granted an exemption were three personnel in the Marine Corps.
The Army and the Navy have yet to announce whether any religious exemptions to the vaccine have been approved.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
