A sailor administers a vaccination aboard USS Gridley on March 26, 2026. The Defense Department recently made the seasonal influenza vaccine optional for service members, ending a long-standing mandate requiring annual flu shots across the force. (Timothy Meyer/U.S. Navy)
Getting a jab every year to protect against the flu is no longer a requirement for active-duty personnel, reservists and Defense Department civilians as part of a new policy announced by the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum lifting the annual influenza vaccine requirement in a video posted Tuesday on X.
“We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities,” Hegseth said in the video.
“This includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it,” he said. “The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member, everywhere in every circumstance at all times, is just overly broad and not rational.”
The new policy is simple and leaves the decision on whether to get the vaccine up to the individual, Hegseth said.
A sailor prepares a vaccination aboard USS Gridley on March 26, 2026. Defense Department officials released updated guidance Monday ending the long-standing annual flu shot requirement across the force and directing the services to submit exception requests within 15 days. (Timothy Meyer/U.S. Navy)
“If you ... believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it; you should,” he said. “But we will not force you, because your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable.”
The new guidance, posted Tuesday by the Pentagon, is dated Monday. It says that effective immediately, the annual influenza vaccine is voluntary for all active and reserve component service members and DOD civilian personnel.
Hegseth’s revision is at odds with long-standing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, which recommends, with rare exceptions, that everyone 6 months and older get the shot every flu season.
Military health experts have also warned that because influenza can spread quickly, seasonal vaccination “is the most effective control measure” to reduce serious infection and minimize the risk to the force and the mission, according to a flu vaccine statement on the Navy and Marine Corps Force Health Protection Command website.
The Department of Defense Education Activity, which requires the vaccine for its staff and students, did not answer a query by deadline about how the new policy may affect that guidance.
Hegseth also directed the services and components to submit requests for exceptions to the new policy within 15 days of the memorandum publication date.
He prefaced his announcement by discussing the COVID-19 vaccine, which was mandatory for active-duty service members from August 2021 to January 2023 under former President Joe Biden.
Approximately 8,700 service members were involuntarily separated for not complying with the vaccine mandate, and more than 3,000 of them did not receive honorable discharges, the Pentagon has said.
Discharged service members have until April 2027 to pursue reinstatement under a program to welcome them back to active-duty service with fully reinstated benefits.
“Our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country even when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness,” Hegseth said of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
