The Globe

The army traded its flu vaccine mandate for ‘medical freedom’ – a scourge briefly adopted

Source link : https://health365.info/the-army-traded-its-flu-vaccine-mandate-for-medical-freedom-a-scourge-briefly-adopted/

As of June 23, 2026, a minimum of 222 recruits at the base have fallen in poor health and 4 have reportedly been hospitalized.

In his April 21 announcement making the flu vaccine non-compulsory, Hegseth cited scientific autonomy and spiritual freedom, describing the vaccination requirement as “overly broad and not rational,” telling troops that “your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable.”

The flu shot requirement that Hegseth ended have been in position since 1945, with one temporary pause in 1949. It used to be a part of a practice of army vaccine mandates just about as previous as the US itself.

As an epidemiologist who research vaccine-preventable sicknesses, I discovered the top of the flu mandate placing much less for its speedy affect than for what it indicators. For many of American historical past, army commanders took as a right that infectious illness may value them a battle, which is why vaccination used to be thought to be a question of army readiness fairly than non-public selection.

The Lackland outbreak is proof that the underlying epidemiology has no longer modified – simplest the political local weather surrounding public well being.

A convention that began with George Washington

The primary American army vaccine mandate predates the Charter. Within the iciness of 1777, Gen. George Washington ordered the mass inoculation of the Continental Military in opposition to smallpox.

His resolution wasn’t ideological – it used…

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Publish date : 2026-06-24 20:46:00

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