This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
The U.S. military today ended its flu vaccine mandate for active-duty and reserve service members and civilian personnel, the U.S. Department of War announced today. Pam Long, director of the Children’s Health Defense Military Chapter, said that up until this week, service members were still being punished for refusing the vaccine. She called the policy change a “major victory” for individual liberty.
The U.S. military today ended its flu vaccine mandate for active-duty and reserve service members and civilian personnel, effective immediately, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced today in a one-page memorandum.
In a video accompanying the announcement and posted on X, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the time was right to end the mandate.
“We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war-fighting capabilities,” Hegseth said. “In this case, this includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it.”
In his video, Hegseth said service members were still “free to take” the flu vaccine if they so wished, but would no longer be forced to do so.
“The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member, everywhere, in every circumstance, at all times, is just overly broad and not rational,” Hegseth said.
The military has required annual flu shots for its members “for years,” Fox News reported. According to a 2022 study, flu vaccine mandates in the U.S. military date back to at least 1945.
The DOD first began loosening its flu vaccine requirements last year. A May 2025 Pentagon memo ended the flu shot mandate for reservists — unless they were called to active duty for 30 consecutive days or more.
Pam Long, director of the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Military Chapter, called today’s policy change a “major victory for individual liberty.”
“Service members were still being punished for refusal of the annual influenza vaccine up until this week,” Long said. “The military chain of command had implemented an influenza mandate for many years, which was coerced for compliance metrics and career promotion, not for the health of the force.”
Others suggested the new policy represents a return to informed consent.
“While we have empowered commanders to make command decisions, I have not yet found the document that authorizes commanders to make medical decisions for their troops,” said Carolyn Rocco, co-founder of CHD’s Military Chapter.
Flu vaccine mandate was a ‘cash cow’ for Pharma
According to The Washington Post, the military’s new policy has “alarmed some public health experts,” who warned the armed services would face an increase in flu cases, sick cases and healthcare costs.
But internal medicine physician Dr. Meryl Nass, founder of Door to Freedom, told The Defender, “This shot has low efficacy and likely caused as many sick days as it prevented in the military.”
J.M. Phelps, a contributing writer for The Gateway Pundit, American Family News and WorldNet Daily, has reported extensively on military vaccine mandates. He said the military’s new policy is “more informed and constitutionally sound.”
“Hegseth will undoubtedly face criticism from skeptics, but the public cannot refute the reality that getting an annual flu shot actually increases the risk of contracting the flu, regardless of how many fact-checking sites they consult,” Phelps said.
A 2025 Cleveland Clinic study found that people who received a flu vaccine during the 2024-2025 cold and flu season had a 27% higher risk of getting the flu compared to the unvaccinated.
Some analysts have suggested that the military’s flu shot mandate, far from benefiting public health or the well-being of service members, was a “cash cow” for Big Pharma.
“It’s a lucrative and captured — in every sense of that word — market for the pharmaceutical industry, while they are also completely shielded from liability by the Feres doctrine, which prohibits servicemembers from suing over injuries that they might get as a result of being forced to take these things,” said attorney Dale Saran.
Vaccine mandates contributed to ‘bleak recruiting crisis’ for the military
The military’s new policy is part of a broader pivot away from vaccine mandates for its personnel.
Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that reinstated service members discharged under the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The mandate took effect Aug. 24, 2021, and was rescinded on Jan. 10, 2023.
The executive order directed the military to reinstate discharged members with their former rank and full back pay with benefits.
In November 2025, the DOD launched two task forces to review the impact and outcomes of the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The COVID-19 vaccine mandate is widely seen as having contributed to a decline in manpower and recruitment for the military during and after the pandemic. According to a December 2022 Defense document, 8,123 service members were discharged as of Nov. 30, 2022, for COVID-19 vaccine refusal.
In July 2022, when the military’s deadline for compliance with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate expired, the U.S. Army cut 60,000 unvaccinated guard and reserve soldiers, preventing them from participating in training or receiving military benefits.
That month, the military reported facing an “increasingly bleak recruiting crisis.”
Last year, some service members who sought reinstatement following Trump’s executive order said they encountered obstacles preventing them from reenlisting. Those obstacles included being informed they didn’t qualify for back pay and other provisions.
Last month, the DOD extended its reenlistment deadline for service members discharged for declining COVID-19 vaccination. The new deadline is April 1, 2027.
Hegseth said the military’s new flu vaccine policy is part of the DOD’s new “common-sense approach” to vaccination. “We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities.”
Grassroots efforts helped overturn military flu vaccine mandate
Jeffrey Tucker, president and founder of the Brownstone Institute, said growing public opposition to vaccine mandates likely contributed to weakened recruitment — and to the military’s latest policy reversal. He said:
“The move by the DOD is designed to address the recruiting crisis. Vaccine mandates are a huge issue now that the public is in revolt against all of them, even the flu shot.
“This dramatic change proves the point: mandates are a massive populist issue, more so now than in many decades. All governments and political leaders need to pay attention. We cannot jab our way to health.”
Long said public opposition included grassroots efforts over the past year aimed at changing the military’s vaccine policies. She said:
“Many advocates for policy change were involved at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the DOD over the past 14 months in this administration to make the influenza vaccine voluntary for military members, both active and reserve personnel.
“The CHD Military Chapter surveyed 80 military members in 2025 who were denied accommodations for the influenza vaccine, and they left service as a consequence or faced adverse career impact. The influenza vaccine mandate was impacting DOD in loss of experienced personnel along with legal fees in litigation.”
Phelps cited the example of U.S. Air Force Major Brennan Schilperoort, who refused to get the flu vaccine on religious and health grounds. He was placed on involuntary leave in March 2025, but last month, the military fully restored his career and rank.
Phelps said Schilperoort’s story led to “steadfast advocacy” for the rights of service members that likely contributed to the DOD’s about-face on flu vaccines.
“I’m inclined to believe the national attention on Major Schilperoort’s story may have influenced Secretary Hegseth’s decision, and I am grateful that he chose to share it publicly,” Phelps said.
Related articles in The Defender
Pentagon Ends Flu Vaccine Mandate for Reservists, But Not Active Duty Troops
‘Unwinding the Mess’: DOD Launches Task Forces to Investigate Military COVID Vaccine Mandates
Trump Orders Military to Reinstate Members Booted for Refusing COVID Vaccines
Watch: Military’s COVID Vaccine Mandate ‘Illegal’ Lawyer Says
‘Deeply Concerning’: This Year’s Flu Shots Led to 27% Higher Risk of Flu
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