Overview
- The Pentagon said Wednesday that exceptions were granted to reinstate mandatory influenza vaccinations for recruits in the Army, Navy and Air Force after a review by personnel and readiness officials.
- Reports place the outbreak at Joint Base San Antonio–Lackland in recent weeks at several hundred sickened trainees, with media counts ranging roughly from 222 to 275, multiple hospitalizations and one trainee’s death under investigation.
- Coverage and service statements say the outbreak began while the flu shot had been made optional in April, and vaccination uptake at the base fell from near universal to about 40 percent after that policy change.
- Military services are vaccinating the affected recruit class at Lackland and the Army is preparing to expand mandatory shots to other high‑risk groups such as deploying troops, health care workers and first responders.
- The reversal highlights a clash between the administration’s emphasis on individual medical choice and long‑standing military public‑health practice that treats vaccination as a force‑protection measure in close‑quarters training settings.