TAMPA — In a stinging rebuke of the military's handling of the mandatory COVID vaccine enforcement policy, a federal district court judge in Florida has issued a temporary order preventing disciplinary action against two officers who refused the vaccine on religious grounds.

"The military is well aware of the frailty of their arguments in defense of their practices," federal District Court Judge Steven Merryday ruled in a court order. "The record creates a strong inference that the services are discriminatorily and systematically denying religious exemptions without a meaningful and fair hearing."