Pentagon Complied with COVID-19 Waiver Rules According to Watchdog But Services Moved Slowly

A Pentagon watchdog review of the military's COVID-19 vaccine exemption process found that each of the branches largely complied with policies and, in some cases, even went beyond what was required to consider service members' requests for religious accommodation.

While rejecting a number of accusations that the services hadn't properly reviewed waiver requests, the Pentagon's inspector general did fault the Army and Air Force for taking too long to process the requests and wrote in a report released Thursday that discharges were inconsistent, leaving some service members with full benefits while others were left with partial benefits.

The exemption process became the subject of political and legal scrutiny amid the height of the pandemic after some service members filed legal challenges that ultimately made their way to the U.S. Supreme Court.