Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth has ended mandatory flu vaccines for military personnel. While flu vaccines will still be offered, military personnel can now opt out of them if they so choose.
Hegseth says U.S. military no longer requires flu vaccination, drawing criticism from health experts– www.scientificamerican.com
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Hegseth says U.S. military no longer requires flu vaccination, drawing criticism from health experts
The decision to no longer enforce mandatory annual flu shots for military personnel could mean more troops will get sick during flu season, one expert says
The U.S. military will no longer require service members to be vaccinated against the flu, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a social media post on Tuesday, a decision that some health experts say could endanger troops.
“The War Department is once again restoring freedom to our Joint Force. We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately,” Hegseth wrote in the post.
The policy stands in contrast to the current recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country’s highest public health body, which says all Americans over the age of six months who do not have contraindications should get the annual flu shot. The CDC estimates that the vaccine saved some 12,000 lives and prevented about 180,000 hospitalizations during the 2024–2025 flu season.
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