Lackland Outbreak Triggers Pentagon to Reimpose Mandatory Military Flu Vaccines

A flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas sickened nearly 300 recruits (four hospitalized; one recruit died in a military hospital, though its link to the flu is unclear). The Pentagon reinstated the annual flu vaccine mandate for all recruits across the military, reversing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s earlier move to make vaccines optional. Exemptions had been approved after the policy shift, but vaccination rates among incoming trainees had fallen, prompting the policy U-turn and a focus on readiness and herd-immunity considerations.