Military will require COVID-19 vaccine starting next month

Military will require COVID-19 vaccine starting next month

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2020, file photo, Staff Sgt. Travis Snyder, left, receives the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, south of Seattle. Nurse Jose Picart, right, administered the shot. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday, June 17, 2021, announced a new COVID-19 vaccine incentive lottery for the state's military, family members and veterans because the federal government wasn't sharing individual vaccine status of those groups with the state and there were concerns they would be left out of a previously announced lottery. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the U.S. military will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine beginning next month under a plan laid out by the Pentagon Monday and endorsed by President Joe Biden. Top Pentagon leaders said in memos to the troops that the vaccine is a necessary step to maintain military readiness. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the mid-September deadline could be accelerated if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise. Biden told defense officials last week to develop a plan requiring troops to get shots as part of a broader campaign to increase vaccinations in the federal workforce.

 

Photo: FILE – In this Dec. 16, 2020, file photo, Staff Sgt. Travis Snyder, left, receives the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, south of Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)