Marines OK first religious exemptions for Covid vaccine

Washington: The US Marine Corps has approved its first two COVID-19 vaccine exemptions based on religious reasons, something no other military service has done so far.

The two exemptions are the first to be approved by the Corps in 10 years, the Marines said Friday. So far, the Marine Corps has received 3,350 requests for religious exemptions to the mandatory vaccine as of Thursday, and denied 3,212. No information about the two specific approvals was provided, due to privacy reasons.

The services have come under criticism for their failure to grant religious exemptions, with members of Congress, the military and the public questioning if the review processes have been fair. Overall, service leaders have said that religious exemptions to any of the many vaccines required by the military over the years have been very rare. Troops are required to get as many as 17 different vaccines.