The latest Corps actions, which came as COVID-19 cases surged across the country as a result of the omicron variant, brought the total number of Marines booted out of the service for vaccine refusal to 169.
“The speed with which the disease transmits among individuals has increased risk to our Marines and the Marine Corps’ mission,” the Marine Corps said in a statement, even as the percentage of those at least partially vaccinated remained at 95%, the same as last week.
The infection rise also hit close to the Defense Department’s No. 2 leader. The Pentagon announced Thursday that seven staff members who traveled with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks last week to Hawaii, California and Nebraska have tested positive for the virus. Hicks and members of her personal staff have so far tested negative.
Hicks’ trip included stops at U.S. Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego and U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha. She also visited the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii and met with families who have been affected by fuel contamination in drinking water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/marines-discharged-vaccine-refusal-total-169-81916582