Over 200 US Airmen Fall Ill with Flu at Texas Base After Mandate Lifted
En resumen
- Over 200 US airmen and trainees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, have contracted the flu.
- This outbreak follows the Pentagon's decision to end mandatory annual flu vaccinations for personnel, with only 40% of trainees opting for the vaccine after the mandate was lifted.
- Mandatory shots have since been reinstated for recruits at the base.
Resumen generado por IA
Por qué importa
Over 200 US airmen and trainees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland have contracted the flu following the Pentagon's decision to end mandatory annual influenza vaccinations. This comes amid broader debates over vaccination policy within the Trump administration.
More than 200 US airmen and trainees have come down with the flu at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, NBC News has reported, citing a source at the facility. The illnesses come less than two months after the Pentagon ended its longstanding requirement for annual influenza vaccinations.
The cluster of cases is confined to the installation’s Basic Military Training wing, where recruits live and train in close quarters, NBC wrote on Friday.
An Air Force spokesperson has confirmed the outbreak to Texas Public Radio, saying that 160 members have contracted the virus over the past three weeks.
In April, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that annual flu shots would no longer be mandatory for active-duty personnel, reservists and other Defense Department personnel, calling the mandate “absurd” and “overreaching.”
The development comes amid broader debates over vaccination policy within the Trump administration. US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pursued a series of changes to federal vaccine policy since taking office, arguing that the administration is seeking to increase transparency, address potential conflicts of interest and restore public trust in vaccine oversight.
Kennedy, who has long questioned aspects of US vaccination policy and has been described by critics as a vaccine skeptic, has faced opposition from public health experts who argue that some of his policies could undermine confidence in established immunization programs.
Following the change, only about 40% of Air Force trainees opted to receive the flu vaccine, according to officials cited by multiple media outlets.
In response to the situation, the Air Force reinstated mandatory flu shots for recruits at Lackland, according to multiple US media reports citing officials.
The illnesses have also drawn attention because they coincided with the death of trainee Keon McDaniel, who was undergoing Basic Military Training at Lackland and died on June 16 after suffering a medical emergency days earlier. Air Force officials have not linked his death to the influenza outbreak, and the cause remains under investigation.
Preguntas abiertas
- What is the exact cause of trainee Keon McDaniel's death?
- Will the reinstated mandatory shots reduce future outbreaks?
- What are the long-term implications of vaccine policy changes?
