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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the War Department is officially nixing a long-required vaccine as a prerequisite to U.S. military service, continuing the Pentagon’s current trend of removing barriers to enlistment.
Hegseth announced the termination of the flu vaccine mandate, “effective immediately.”
“We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities,” he said in a statement. “In this case, this includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it. The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every servicemember everywhere in every circumstance at all times is just overly broad and not rational.”
According to the secretary, military members may take the flu vaccine if they wish, but the decision will be theirs alone. “Your body, your faith, and your convictions are not negotiable,” Hegseth said.
Under the Trump administration, the Pentagon has taken steps to increase its enlistment numbers and backtrack on Biden-era vaccine requirements, with a special emphasis on the Covid-era mandates that drove many servicemembers to return to civilian life.
“Under the disastrous Biden administration, this Pentagon waged an unrelenting war on our warriors on many fronts, including when it came to denying them simple medical autonomy and the freedom to express their religious convictions,” Hegseth said in his statement.
He continued, “In other words, our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country, even when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness – you know what I’m talking about, what happened with Covid-19 and the vaccine.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order upon taking office in 2025 that ordered redress for wrongful dismissals and made reinstatement an option for those military members who were discharged “solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine” and wished to return to service.
In March 2026, the War Department extended the invitation for reinstatement for another year, and in April, the U.S. Army raised its maximum enlistment age to 42 (up from 35).
