The U.S. Navy lifted its deployment restrictions on sailors who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

A NAVADMIN released Thursday announced the end of considering vaccination status when deploying sailors. The announcement is in line with the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

“Commanders should seek advice from medical providers regarding medical readiness of personnel to inform deployment and other operational mission decisions,” NAVADMIN 38/23 said. “COVID-19 vaccination status shall not be a consideration in assessing individual service member suitability for deployment or other operational missions.”

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The new guidance is consistent with that from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday told reporters Thursday.

Gilday elaborated on the policy to reporters at West 2023, hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA, USNI News reported.

“I would tell you that we will continue to monitor very closely our fleet concentration areas with respect to COVID levels … particularly if there’s a new strain of COVID, we want to make sure that we have enough of the supplies on board like masks and those kinds of things that if we have to revert back to the way we’re doing things before the vaccine,” he said.

The NAVADMIN added that sailors' deployment may still be affected by a host nation's vaccination policies, but it said sailors need not comply with host nations' quarantine requirements.

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The order did not include any policy changes on readmitting sailors discharged over a refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19.