Oklahoma Guard must comply with vaccine mandate --the Pentagon

Pentagon: Oklahoma Guard must comply with vaccine mandate "It is a lawful order for National Guardsmen to receive the Covid vaccine. It is a lawful order," Defense Department press secretary John Kirby told reporters. Quint Forgey POLITICO

The Pentagon's top spokesperson on Monday insisted Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had the authority to require National Guard members to get vaccinated against Covid-19, despite new resistance from Oklahoma's highest-ranking military official.

"It is a lawful order for National Guardsmen to receive the Covid vaccine. It is a lawful order," Defense Department press secretary John Kirby told reporters at a news briefing. ...

Kirby's defense of the Pentagon's forcewide vaccine mandate comes after Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, the adjutant general for Oklahoma, notified the state's National Guard soldiers and airmen that they would not be required to get their shots. ...