Isela Orona, a child care provider at Fort Carson, Colo., leads children in a fall learning activity in 2021. Workers and participants in the Army’s child and youth services programs will no longer be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the service said in a memo Aug. 25, 2025. (Eric Parris/U.S. Army)
COVID-19 shots are no longer required for employees or children in Army child care centers, youth programs and school support services.
A memo announcing the end of the coronavirus immunization mandate was posted online Monday after being signed earlier this month by Anthony Tata, defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness. It applies to all youth program staffers, child care providers and volunteers, as well as children enrolled in the programs.
All other age-appropriate vaccinations, such as the one for measles, are still required, according to the memo.
The Army’s Child and Youth Services programs range from day care to sports and fitness programs. The service employs about 11,000 people and serves more than 200,000 children, according to the Army.
The directive is meant to align with a 2023 executive order by former President Joe Biden saying that there was no further need for a government-wide COVID-19 vaccination requirement, according to the new memo.
Faith Nietfeld, a child care center teacher at Fort Polk, La., watches over her students as they play in 2021. Army child and youth services program staffers and participants no longer face a mandate to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the Army said in a memo Aug. 25, 2025. (Angie Thorne/U.S. Army)
President Donald Trump had long criticized the Biden administration for ordering service members to receive the vaccine between 2021 and 2023. During that period, roughly 8,200 troops were discharged for refusing the vaccine, according to The Associated Press.
Shortly after returning to office in January, Trump issued an executive order reinstating the discharged service members, though few opted to reenlist.
The federal government initially required COVID-19 vaccines for its employees at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. In recent years, many of those mandates were rolled back as vaccination rates increased and the threat from the virus decreased.
Ninety-six active-duty service members were among at least 690 military-connected workers who had died from the virus as of December 2022, according to DOD data.
Even without a vaccine mandate, the Defense Department is still encouraging employees to stay current with vaccinations, especially those for seasonal respiratory viruses like the flu and COVID-19.
