United States: vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory for the military

General view of the Pentagon in Washington DC.

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In the United States, the military will be forced to get vaccinated from next month.

Announcement made yesterday by the Pentagon and hailed by Joe Biden as the country faces an outbreak of the epidemic due to the Delta variant.

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With our correspondent in Washington,

Loubna Anaki

Of the 1.5 million active soldiers in the US military, only 64% are fully vaccinated.

An unacceptable rate in the eyes of Lloyd J. Austin for whom it is "

 difficult to deploy unvaccinated troops in countries where the epidemic situation is critical 

".

I just sent a memo encouraging the Force to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and I informed them I will seek @POTUS approval to add it to the list of required vaccines for all Service members no later than mid-September, or upon @US_FDA licensure, whichever comes first.

(1/2)

- Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) August 9, 2021

The Secretary of Defense has therefore announced that from mid-September, all soldiers must be compulsorily vaccinated.

A deadline that could be brought forward if necessary, specifies the minister.

Currently, it is especially the Air Force and the Marines which have the fewest vaccinated among the troops.

Increase in the number of cases in the United States

Joe Biden praised the Pentagon's decision.

The US president, who recently announced the mandatory vaccine for federal employees, also expressed the wish to see the military take similar measures.

All of this as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the country.

100,000 new contaminations every day.

We had not seen such figures since February.

►Also read: Covid-19: the American authorities call on influencers to encourage vaccination

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  • United States

  • Defense

  • Joe biden

  • Vaccines

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  • Health and medicine