The War Department is reviewing discharges issued during the Biden administration involving service members separated under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Affected service members are seeking discharge upgrades, restoration of back pay and benefits, reinstatement to their former rank, and restoration of GI Bill education eligibility.
On August 24, 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memorandum requiring all U.S. service members to begin COVID-19 vaccination, even though President Joe Biden, who was commander in chief at the time, never issued a direct order mandating vaccination for the military.
Critics raised legal and constitutional concerns, arguing that such a mandate should have come from the president or Congress, particularly because federal law requires informed consent for drugs administered under Emergency Use Authorization unless the president grants a national security waiver.
Although the FDA approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine one day earlier, most vaccines available to the military at the time were still distributed under EUA, and no presidential waiver of informed consent was issued.