Late last week, a number of elected officials pressed President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to consider all the consequences that vaccine mandates could have on the defense industry, especially at a time of increasingly tense relations with China.

In a letter dated October 22, the eleven lawmakers said “…not re-thinking the matter – requiring workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, or face termination – will blunt “critical experience in skilled labor,” on-the-job training from veteran craftsmen and lessons learned, all of which will drive costs higher. 

Representative Mike Rogers, who is the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, was among those who signed the letter.

Energy Department officials have said the new rules will not disrupt operations, and that the best means of safeguarding national security is a healthy workforce.

Also pointed out in the letter, was the fact that “many contract workers have opted to receive vaccination, many have not and the reasons are abundant,” the letter goes on to say “the hardworking patriots who comprise the backbone of the industry come from diverse backgrounds and they now face uncertainty in their livelihoods: and are being asked to compromise concerns about the ethics and safety of the vaccine or accept termination in employment.”

According to public data more than 24,000 coronavirus cases and 119 related deaths have been logged in on the Defense Department contractor workforce databank.

(AL.COM/www.al.com)