Pentagon releases religious exemption guidelines for bypassing mandatory vaccine

The Pentagon on Tuesday released guidelines for how service members could request a religious exemption in lieu of getting the coronavirus vaccine.

By mid-September, all active-duty forces in the military will be required to get shots in their arms to counter the coronavirus as cases continue to once again increase nationwide.

"There is a religious exemption possibility for any mandatory vaccine, and there's a process that we go through to counsel the individual both from a medical and from a command perspective about using a religious exemption," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Tuesday.

Kirby said military service members who wish to seek an exemption will be required to be counseled by a medical professional and a commander over the risks posed by not receiving the vaccine.

In addition, they will discuss how the decision could affect their deployability, travel, or even assignments – though the request processes will differ in each branch. 

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