WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is hitting the brakes on actions against civilian employees who are still not vaccinated against COVID-19 following a recent ruling in federal court.
The action halts DoD officials from taking any actions, including firings, against civilian workers who haven't gotten the shots.
"The department has issued guidance, pausing all activities related to processing civilian vaccination exemption requests and any disciplinary actions for failure to become vaccinated for federal civilian workers," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
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He continued: "This guidance ensures compliance with the nation-wide preliminary injunction issued on Friday the 21st of January by the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas."
Judge Jeffrey Brown, in his injunction, ruled that the vaccine mandate is an example of executive overreach.
But, Kirby said the decision does not change DoD policy regarding the 2.2 million uniformed members of the armed forces.
They're still required to be inoculated against the virus.
"This injunction does not extend to military members or to the department's other force protection measures, such as masking, testing, physical distancing and travel limitations."
According to DoD statistics, more than 341,000 Department of Defense civilian employees are fully vaccinated; more than 50,000 are partially vaccinated.
And, more than 100,000 Defense Department civilian employees have tested positive for COVID-19, and, 404 have died.
DoD statistics also show that more than 1.6 million members of the military are fully vaccinated.
More than 339,000 members are partially vaccinated.