Oklahoma bid for Guard exception to vaccine mandate denied

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has rejected a request by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt that his state’s National Guard be exempt from a Pentagon requirement that all military members be vaccinated against COVID-19. In a letter to Stitt obtained by The Associated Press, Austin said failure by an Oklahoma Guard member to get vaccinated “may jeopardize” that person’s status in the National Guard. Stitt is a Republican and had asked Austin in early November to suspend the mandate for members of the Oklahoma Guard. A spokesman for Stitt said in response to Austin’s rejection letter that the governor “maintains his position.”