SC among states asking Congress to repeal vaccination mandate for armed forces

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster was among 21 GOP state governors to ask Congress to repeal the armed forces vaccine mandate Wednesday.

The letter submitted to congress asked lawmakers to take action to remove the COVID-19 vaccine mandate that was authorized on Aug. 24, 2021. The governors urged this action through a standalone bill or the National Defense Authorization Act.

The letter says the mandate is creating a national security risk by deterring new recruits and pushing current enlisted members out who refuse the vaccine.

The letter says the U.S. National Guard missed its recruiting target by 10% on Oct. 8 and had 7,500 members leave the service. The letter also says the National Guard was preparing to discharge roughly 14,000 soldiers over the next two years for refusing the vaccine.

The letter also says the U.S. Army failed its recruiting goal by 25% on Oct. 10, a shortage of 15,000 recruits. It also reports that as of Nov. 15, in total there have been 8,000 Active Duty servicemembers discharged since the implementation of the vaccine mandate.

WIS has embedded the full letter below.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article's headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

Copyright 2022 WIS. All rights reserved.