Two months. This is how long it took for the Pentagon to partially reverse one of its most controversial health decisions of the year. In April, Secretary of Defense – excuse us, the now Secretary of War – Pete Hegseth ended the flu vaccination requirement for American soldiers, in the name of freedom of choice. The man said that removing this rule amounted to “restore freedom” to the soldiers. At the end of June, after an epidemic outbreak at a training base in Texas, several branches of the army obtained authorization to reinstate this same obligation, explains Ars Technica.
The flu outbreak broke out earlier this month at Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. To date, 222 cases, including four hospitalizations, have been recorded. On June 23, recruit McDaniel, who was entering his sixth week of training, died. It is still unclear whether his death is linked to the epidemic, but two anonymous sources indicated that the situation there was worsening by the day.
If the American army had imposed flu vaccinations for decades, it was not out of an excess of bureaucratic caution. Barracks, training centers and military ships provide ideal environments for the circulation of viruses. Indeed, the promiscuity of soldiers’ community life, as well as fatigue and frequent travel, favor contamination. From smallpox in Napoleonic armies to the Spanish flu that struck soldiers in World War I, infectious diseases have often decimated armies.
A health turnaround
According to ABC News, sources estimate that only 40% of new recruits stationed on the base had been vaccinated. Faced with criticism, the Pentagon assures that the return of vaccination obligations does not constitute a backpedal but simply a pragmatic adaptation to the needs on the ground. In a statement to Ars Technica, spokesperson Sean Parnell explained that waivers from the optional flu vaccination policy had been granted to several components of the US military, including the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Defense Health Agency. According to him, these exceptions result from“in-depth risk assessments” and aim above all to maintain the operational availability of forces.
This position of the Pentagon is all the more surprising given that the American army has long been one of the main driving forces in the fight against the flu. After the devastation of the 1918 pandemic, which killed around 43,000 American soldiers, the armed forces invested in research on this virus and participated in the development of the first modern influenza vaccine. Its effectiveness was notably tested on soldiers before its approval in 1945, the year when vaccination became compulsory in the army.
This controversy comes in a broader context of questioning of vaccine policies in the United States. While the World Health Organization recommends flu vaccination for all people aged six months and older, the Trump administration is defending a relaxation of vaccination requirements.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health, launched the initiative Make America Healthy Again (MAHA), whose stated objective is to transform American public health policy by placing greater emphasis on individual responsibility. This case seems to show that this new health doctrine will have difficulty freeing itself from the lessons learned from several centuries of fighting epidemics.
