Even though President Biden declared that the pandemic was over, Air Force pilots seeking religious exemption from the vaccine mandate are prohibited from flying, while pilots with medical exemptions are allowed to perform their duties. Ten thousand unvaccinated military members who submitted religious exemption have been denied or are awaiting a decision in an ongoing class action lawsuit at the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court stated that the U.S. military has wide discretion to make “deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions,” which the extended branches use as permission to choose candidates based on vaccination status.
