While the Defense Department did not give a date for the requirement, it said that service branch secretaries have been told to ‘impose ambitious timelines for implementation.’ “To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in the memo released Wednesday Military service members must "immediately begin" getting the corona virus vaccine if they haven't yet done so, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in a memo released Wednesday. "To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force," Austin wrote in the memo.
"After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people."The memo "directs the Secretaries of the Military Departments to immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19," according to a Defense Department press release.
The vaccine requirement will only apply to the Pfizer shot, which was granted full approval by the Food and Drug Administration this week. Anyone who was already vaccinated with Pfizer or another vaccine under emergency use authorization is considered fully vaccinated under the policy, according to the Defense Department. While the agency did not give a date for the requirement, it said that service branch secretaries have been told to "impose ambitious timelines for implementation." Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby earlier this week said that a timeline for the vaccination process will be provided "in the coming days."
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