WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the U.S. military will no longer require all American troops to get the flu vaccine, citing “medical autonomy” and religious freedom.
“The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member, everywhere, in every circumstance at all times is just overly broad and not rational,” Hegseth said in a video posted on social media.
He said American service members are free to get the flu vaccine but will not be forced to “because your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable.”
Hegseth’s directive does allow for the military services to request to keep the vaccine requirement in place, according to a memo enacting the policy posted online. It says the services have 15 days to make those requests.
Vaccination programs in the U.S. military date back to the American Revolution. But they became a contentious political issue during the coronavirus pandemic, when more than 8,400 troops were forced out of the military for refusing to obey the 2021 mandate for the COVID-19 vaccine. Thousands of others sought religious and medical exemptions.
Congress agreed to rescind the mandate, which the Pentagon dropped in January 2023, after roughly 99% of active duty troops in the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had gotten the vaccine, and 98% of those in the Army. The Guard and Reserve rates are lower but generally are more than 90%.
The Trump administration then spent months crafting a policy to allow service members who refused to take the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine to reenter service with back pay. While only a tiny fraction have taken the Pentagon up on the new policy, Hegseth’s team has spent the past several months personally highlighting them.
The Pentagon stated in March that 153 service members who were separated under the COVID-19 mandate had been reinstated or “re-accessed.”
The dropping of the flu vaccine mandate follows what health officials said was a particularly severe flu season when U.S. infections surged. Public health experts recommend that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine.
The Trump administration has been working to dial back vaccine recommendations. It stated earlier this year that it will no longer recommend flu shots and some other types of vaccines for all children, saying it’s a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors. A federal judge has temporarily blocked that effort as a lawsuit plays out.
The Congressional Research Service listed eight mandatory vaccines for service members in a 2021 report. They included vaccines for the flu, polio and tetanus as well as the measles and hepatitis A and B.
Service members could request to opt out of a vaccine requirement for religious reasons, the report stated. But the unit commander was required to seek input from medical and religious representatives, while also counseling the service member on the potential impact on their ability to deploy. A military physician also had to counsel the service member on the benefits and risks of forgoing a required vaccination.
The Congressional Research Service noted that the military instituted its first vaccination program in 1777 when Gen. George Washington directed the inoculation of the Continental Army to protect personnel from smallpox.
