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WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the U.S. subject volition nary longer necessitate each American troops to get the flu vaccine, citing "medial autonomy" and spiritual freedom.
NOTE: The video is from a erstwhile report.
"The conception that a flu vaccine indispensable beryllium mandatory for each work member, everywhere, successful each condition astatine each times is conscionable overly wide and not rational," Hegseth said successful a video posted connected societal media.
He said American work members are escaped to get the flu vaccine but volition not beryllium forced to "because your body, your religion and your convictions are not negotiable."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a property briefing astatine the Pentagon, Thursday, April 16, 2026 successful Washington.
AP Photo/Kevin Wolf
Hegseth's directive does let for the subject services to petition to support the vaccine request successful place, according to a memo enacting the argumentation posted online. It says the services person 15 days to marque those requests.
Vaccination programs successful the U.S. subject day backmost to the American Revolution. But they became a contentious governmental contented during the coronavirus pandemic, erstwhile much than 8,400 troops were forced retired of the subject for refusing to obey the 2021 mandate for the COVID-19 vaccine. Thousands of others sought spiritual and aesculapian exemptions.
Congress agreed to rescind the mandate, which the Pentagon dropped successful January 2023, aft astir 99% of progressive work troops successful the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had gotten the vaccine, and 98% of those successful the Army. The Guard and Reserve rates are little but mostly are much than 90%.
The Trump medication past spent months crafting a argumentation to let work members who refused to instrumentality the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine to reenter work with backmost pay. While lone a tiny fraction person taken the Pentagon up connected the caller policy, Hegseth's squad has spent the past respective months personally highlighting them.
The Pentagon stated successful March that 153 work members who were separated nether the COVID-19 mandate had been reinstated oregon "re-accessed."
The dropping of the flu vaccine mandate follows what wellness officials said was a peculiarly terrible flu play erstwhile U.S. infections surged. Public wellness experts urge that everyone 6 months and older get an yearly influenza vaccine.
The Trump medication has been dialing backmost connected vaccine recommendations. It stated earlier this twelvemonth that it volition nary longer urge flu shots and immoderate different types of vaccines for each children, saying it's a determination parents and patients should marque successful consultation with their doctors.
The Congressional Research Service listed 8 mandatory vaccines for work members successful a 2021 report. They included vaccines for the flu, polio and tetanus arsenic good arsenic the measles and hepatitis A and B.
Service members could petition to opt retired of a vaccine request for spiritual reasons, the study stated. But the portion commandant was required to question input from aesculapian and spiritual representatives, portion besides counseling the work subordinate connected the imaginable interaction connected their quality to deploy. A subject doc besides had to counsel the work subordinate connected the benefits and risks of forgoing a required vaccination.
The Congressional Research Service noted that the subject instituted its archetypal vaccination programme successful 1777 erstwhile Gen. George Washington directed the inoculation of the Continental Army to support unit from smallpox.
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