Military requiring flu vaccines for recruits as Air Force base deals with outbreak

All branches of the U.S. subject began erstwhile again requiring their recruits to get flu vaccines earlier this month, an objection to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's determination to assistance the military's vaccine mandate, a Pentagon authoritative confirmed to CBS News connected Wednesday. 

The quality comes arsenic Lackland Air Force Base successful Texas — location to the Air Force's Basic Military Training programme — grapples with a flu outbreak that has infected 275 radical successful caller weeks, a legislature staffer with cognition of the substance told CBS News. The process of reinstating the mandate for recruits began earlier the Lackland outbreak was publically acknowledged.

The portion astatine Lackland has implemented mitigation measures, is monitoring trainees who whitethorn person been exposed and is treating symptomatic trainees with antiviral medications specified arsenic Tamiflu, an Air Force spokesperson told CBS News past week.

Hegseth announced successful precocious April that helium was making the yearly flu vaccine voluntary for work members "effective immediately." In a video posted to societal media, Hegseth said requiring radical to get vaccinated was "overly wide and not rational." 

By aboriginal May, each subject departments had formally requested exemptions that let them to support requiring flu vaccinations for definite work members, and those exemptions were granted successful aboriginal June, according to the legislature staffer. The exemptions typically use to susceptible populations similar radical who unrecorded successful communal environments, healthcare workers and different categories, the staffer said.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said successful a connection past week that exceptions to the voluntary flu vaccine argumentation had been issued pursuing a "comprehensive review."

"The decisions were based upon thorough hazard assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and unit generation, portion safeguarding at-risk populations," Parnell said. "The Department remains committed to the wellness and readiness of our warfighters and civilian personnel."

Asked for remark Wednesday, the Pentagon referred CBS News to Parnell's earlier statement.

The flu vaccine was archetypal mandated for troops successful 1945, starring to millions of vaccinations, according to a 2022 analysis of vaccine mandates successful the military. The request was lifted successful 1949 but reinstated successful the 1950s, and flu vaccines remained mandatory until Hegseth's order.

The Pentagon has agelong required unit to get vaccinated against a scope of diseases from hepatitis B to measles, mumps and rubella. Military vaccination programs date back to Gen. George Washington's enactment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a 2021 Congressional Research Service study notes.

The Biden medication besides required work members to person COVID-19 vaccines, starring thousands of radical who declined to get vaccinated to voluntarily oregon involuntarily permission the military. That mandate was lifted successful 2023, and past year, President Trump authorized work members who refused the COVID-19 vaccine to beryllium reinstated.

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• Vaccine