Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday that the Pentagon will no longer require members of the U.S. military to receive an annual flu vaccine. This decision reverses a longstanding policy previously applied to members of the U.S. armed services.
Hegseth stated that the decision is based on the principle of medical autonomy. In explaining the move, he criticized the previous vaccine mandate as overreaching.
The announcement has caught some Republicans in Congress off guard.