The U.S. military will change guidance issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that made the flu vaccination voluntary for service members and the department’s civilian personnel.
The reinstatement of the vaccine requirement comes on the heels of a weekslong flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where at least 275 people have fallen ill. Around 60% of previously unvaccinated recruits declined to receive the flu shot following Hegseth’s April announcement, CNN reported.
A recruit at Lackland died on June 16 after a “medical emergency” days before, though it’s unclear whether he died as a result of the flu outbreak.
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that the department is granting exceptions to the Hegseth-led changes to vaccination policy for the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency and Defense Health Agency “following a comprehensive review of these requests.”
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Each military branch, none of which responded to NOTUS’ requests for comment, could decide how to implement the policy change. It is unclear whether they will require the annual flu vaccine for all service members, boot camp recruits only or other personnel.
“The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations,” Parnell said.
Hegseth said in a video posted to X in April that the flu vaccine requirement denied troops “simple medical autonomy” and forced them to “choose between their conscience and their country.”
“The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member everywhere in every circumstance at all times — it’s just overly broad and not rational,” Hegseth said.
The defense secretary made the flu vaccine voluntary for all active and reserve service members and civilian personnel in the department in a memorandum.
The services had 15 days to ask for exceptions to the policy after Hegseth’s announcement, which would permit them to keep the vaccine mandatory.
At the time, some Republican lawmakers sharply criticized the policy reversal. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who chairs the Committee on Armed Services, said Hegseth made a “mistake.”
In May 2025, the Defense Department revised guidelines around the seasonal flu vaccine, requiring it “only when doing so most directly contributes to readiness.”
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