Defense Secretary seeks mandatory vaccines for troops

He wants the vaccine mandatory by mid-September

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will request approval for the COVID-19 vaccine to become mandatory for all U.S. military members by mid-September, according to a U.S. official.

That deadline may be moved up if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise, but his recommendation would put a procedure in place for a mandatory vaccine should that happen before.

This decision comes a little over a week after Biden told defense officials to develop a plan requiring troops to get vaccinated as part of a larger campaign to increase vaccinations in the federal workforce.