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Pentagon Brings Back Mandatory Flu Shots For All Boot Camp Recruits

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This week, the Pentagon announced that they are reinstating a requirement that all boot camps for US military services are to enforce new recruits getting a flu vaccination after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously made the shot optional for new military members at the end of April. 

The Associated Press received this confirmation from a Pentagon official after a recent growing, weekslong, flu outbreak at the US Air Force’s boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base caused around 300 people to get sick. The official who spoke with the publication mentioned, however, that the recent mandate of the vaccination was not related to that specific outbreak. 

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Back in April, when Hegseth initially announced that the flu vaccine mandate was being repealed, he cited “medical autonomy and religious freedom.” He also allowed the services to ask for specific exceptions/permission to keep the vaccine mandatory within 15 days of the policy rollout. 

The official from the Pentagon explained that the decision to reinstate was being finalized earlier in June with the timing of the outbreak at Lackland being purely coincidental. In Lackland, only 40% of the new trainees in the bootcamp were vaccinated once it became optional, according to AP. 

According to Air Force figures, this particular base handles around 700 new recruits every week, and the close quarters environment has always been relevant when it comes to the spread of sickness. 

Outbreaks in boot camp settings are unfortunately common due to the fact that recruits are exposed to high stress, low sleep environments where they’re in very close contact with each other for weeks. They typically sleep together in large, open rooms and shower communally, so it’s easy for sicknesses to spread. 

The outbreak at Lackland has now been ongoing for about three weeks with 275 confirmed cases of the flu, according to Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro, who confirmed the stats in a social media post. Castro’s district also includes part of the base where the boot camp resides. 

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Dr. Arnold Monto, a flu expert and professor, stated that this new outbreak is “not unusually concerning,” because although the flu is mainly an issue in the late fall and winter, flu viruses routinely circulate during warmer months too. 

In fact, flu outbreaks that occur during the spring and summer months are often in settings where a lot of people are in close contact with one another, like military bases or cruise ships. 

“If you want to prevent flu outbreaks, it is especially necessary to vaccinate when there are group settings,” Dr. Monto said. 

The Pentagon’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement to the media that exceptions were granted to the Army, Navy, Air Force, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Health Agency. 

Both Army and Navy officials, however, said that they have also asked for permission to make the vaccine mandatory for certain broad groups including troops that are being deployed overseas, healthcare workers, and child care workers. 

Advocacy organization ‘Families Fighting Flu’ openly supported this change to increase vaccine rates. 

Michele Slafkosky, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement:

“For decades, the military prioritized the health and safety of troops and the public by requiring flu vaccines for recruits. It’s unfortunate that more than 200 individuals at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas became ill when that requirement was rescinded. This updated guidance from the military will save lives.” 

New York Implements New Vaccine Mandates As Omicron Continues To Spread 

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As the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus continues to spread throughout the US, New York is taking action after becoming the first hub of breakout cases and surges. New York City in particular has implemented their latest vaccine mandate for private businesses to go into effect this week. 

New York state broke a single-day record for new cases with nearly 50,000 new infections being reported on Christmas Eve. Governor Kathy Hochul released data and a statement regarding the new cases and vaccine mandate. 

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“As we come home from holiday gatherings, it is as important as ever to take precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19 this season. The vaccine is the best tool we have to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe as we head into the new year.”

The newest mandate requires workers to have at least one vaccine dose by Monday, employees will no longer be able to opt out of vaccination requirements with weekly testing. Children between the ages of 5-11 are now required to show proof of at least one vaccination before having access to indoor dining, fitness or entertainment, and adults will be required to show proof of two vaccinations for those areas. 

“We need to take very bold action. We’re seeing restrictions starting to come back. We’re seeing shutdowns. We can not let those restrictions come back. We can not have shutdowns in New York,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are working to ease staffing shortages throughout the nation’s healthcare facilities. Workers in healthcare are able to return to work after testing positive after seven days of isolation if they’re asymptomatic and test negative. 

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The agency also specified that “health care workers don’t need to quarantine “following high-risk exposures if they’ve gotten all recommended vaccinations, including a booster shot. Quarantine refers to when people who have been exposed to the virus but have not yet been diagnosed with an infection need to avoid others. These new guidelines don’t extend to the general public and only apply to the healthcare workforce.”

About 74% of all ICU beds in the nation are being used while 21% of them are occupied by Covid-19 patients. Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke on Sunday and discussed how the Omicron variant poses a big threat to the healthcare system in America. 

“Even though we’re pleased by the evidence from multiple countries that it looks like there is a lesser degree of severity, we’ve got to be careful that we don’t get complacent about that because it might still lead to a lot of hospitalizations in the United States,” he explained. 

“We’re particularly worried about those who are in that unvaccinated class, that you know, tens and tens of millions of Americans who are eligible for vaccination who have not been vaccinated, those are the vulnerable ones when you have a virus that is extraordinarily effective in getting to people and affecting them the way Omicron is.”

Around 72.7% of the US population has now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 61.7% are fully vaccinated with two doses. 31.5% have already received their booster shots as well. 

President Biden’s Vaccine Mandate For 100 Million Workers Officially Being Enforced

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Back in September President Biden announced that he would be working on creating multiple vaccine mandates to get more Americans vaccinated. On Thursday, the administration started the process by releasing mandates for over 100 million workers. 

The first rule has been issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and covers mandates for companies with 100 or more employees; it’s estimated this rule will apply to 84 million workers. Companies need to ensure their employees are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by January 4th, or they will need to provide a negative test in order to come into work every week. 

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OSHA’s rule also requires employers to pay their employees for the time it takes for them to get vaccinated, and recover from any potential side effects that arise. 

Employers also won’t be required to pay for weekly testing for their unvaccinated employees, or even provide the testing in the first place. This is in an attempt to get more employees to actually receive their vaccines as opposed to remaining at higher risk for exposure. 

Unvaccinated workers will also be required to wear face coverings at all times; this rule will be enforced starting December 6th. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are requiring around 17 million health care workers to be vaccinated by January 4th. However, healthcare workers won’t be given the option to decline being vaccinated to opt for weekly testing. 

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Some employers are worried that the deadlines OSHA provided won’t give some of them enough time to gather the information required to find out who’s already vaccinated and who’s not. However, the Biden Administration asserted their authority in issuing these mandates due to OSHA’s responsibility to provide safe and healthy working conditions for all employees. 

“A virus that has killed more than 745,000 Americans, with more than 70,000 new cases per day currently, is clearly a health hazard that poses a grave danger to workers,” said a senior administration official.

Companies will mainly be responsible for enforcing the OSHA rule, as there’s only a couple thousand state and federal OSHA inspectors nationwide. It’s expected that OSHA inspectors will more likely be responding to employee complaints regarding their employers or fellow workers who aren’t abiding by the mandates. 

Employers that violate the rule can face fines up to $13,000 per violation, and depending on how severe the violation is that fine could multiply by ten.