Military branches restore flu shot requirement

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

The Army, Navy, and Air Force are once again requiring basic trainees to get vaccinated against influenza after the virus quickly swept through an Air Force base in Texas, sickening at least 222 recruits and hospitalizing four. The outbreak flared just two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abandoned a decades-long requirement for flu shots.

Posted by lamplighter at 12:41 PM | 5 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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... The requirement was intended to keep armed forces healthy in their bases, which provide ideally tight conditions for a variety of pathogens, including influenza, to run rampant.

Mandates stem from centuries of intertwining histories of militaries, war, and human pathogens that have firmly established the danger that infectious diseases pose to armed forces.

But in April, Hegseth claimed that flu shot requirements were "not rational" and said removing the requirement was "restoring freedom" to military members.

Last week, news broke of a flu outbreak sweeping through Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio in Texas. Two unnamed sources told ABC News that the situation at the base has been worsening.

In addition to the 222 cases and four hospitalizations reported as of Tuesday, one recruit, Keon McDaniel, died. McDaniel was in his sixth week of basic training and suffered a medical emergency on June 12. It's unclear if his death was related to the outbreak.

ABC News reported that sources think only about 40 percent of the new Air Force trainees at the base were vaccinated and that the outbreak began in early June. ...

[emphasis mine]

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-06-24 12:43 PM | Reply

Nothing like coming in screaming that you're out to improve readiness, then immediately damage readiness with stupid ideology.

#2 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2026-06-24 12:57 PM | Reply

@#2 ... Nothing like coming in screaming that you're out to improve readiness, then immediately damage readiness with stupid ideology. ...

Weaponized incompetence?

#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-06-24 12:59 PM | Reply

Chesterton's Fence

A philosophical principle stating that you should never remove or alter an established system, rule, or tradition until you first understand exactly why it was put there in the first place.

Trumpy does not have any "philosophical principles" or any kind of principles for that matter. Much less any "understanding".

#4 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-06-24 01:00 PM | Reply

"Worm-brain Angry! Worm-brain Smash!"

#5 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-06-24 04:16 PM | Reply