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The Conversation USA

How the concept of ‘medical freedom’ is reshaping the military’s decades-long stance on the flu vaccine mandate − and endangering troops’ readiness

  • Written by Katrine L. Wallace, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois Chicago
imageVaccine mandates in the U.S. military are nearly as old as the country itself.jacoblund/iStock via Getty Images Plus

For the first time in almost 80 years, U.S. service members will no longer be mandated to receive the annual influenza vaccine.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the change on April 22, 2026. Citing medical autonomy and...

Read more: How the concept of ‘medical freedom’ is reshaping the military’s decades-long stance on the flu...

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