coronavirus pandemic

Thousands of Military Service Members Miss COVID Vaccination Deadlines

The vaccination deadline for active-duty members of the armed services has passed for the Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps

FILE - A healthcare worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Oct. 5, 2021, in Miami. Nearly 8,500 active duty members of the Air Force and Space Force have missed the deadline for getting COVID-19 vaccinations, including 800 who flatly refused and nearly 5,000 with pending requests for a religious exemption, the Air Force said Wednesday, Nov. 3.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File

Thousands of active-duty service members have failed to comply with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, raising the prospect that they will be forced to leave their positions or the military altogether.

The vaccination deadline for active-duty members of the armed services has passed for the Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps. The Army's deadline is Dec. 15.

Despite the Pentagon's vaccine mandate, approximately 27,000 members of the Marines, Air Force, Space Force and the Navy are still considered unvaccinated. About 19,000 of the Army's soldiers have yet to start the protocol with only a week left before that branch's deadline.

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

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