Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinded the flu vaccine requirement in April, and in May influenza began spreading at Lackland, which is the hub of Air Force basic training, graduating 35,000 airmen every year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinded the flu vaccine requirement in April, and in May influenza began spreading at Lackland, which is the hub of Air Force basic training, graduating 35,000 airmen every year.
The US military has long given all new recruits a whole lot of vaccines. Mostly because it keeps them alive, and because it takes away the incentive for potential adversaries to do things like release smallpox again. The politically-appointed leadership has long had the discretion to choose which vaccines. So he took away a requirement for a flu vaccine, even though the flu has a long history of killing more soldiers than combat.
Combine that with a whole lot of antivax propaganda kicking around, and a large fraction of soldiers didn’t get this vaccine.
This includes several few vaccines that are not normally issued to the general public. Like anthrax, rabies, and the bicillin “peanut butter” shot that is known to be really uncomfortable and delivered straight to the butt.
wow, I never even thought of reasons like that, that would be insane.