Pentagon moving to mandate COVID-19 vaccine for U.S. troops

The Defense Department announced Monday that it will move to make the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all U.S. service members, now that the vaccine has received the full approval of the Food and Drug Administration.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a memo to the force this month that he would mandate the vaccine for the 1.3 million service members, either upon FDA approval or by mid-September with a waiver from President Biden. Vaccines have been voluntary for troops while they're under emergency use authorization.  Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday that updated guidance and a timeline for when troops should be vaccinated will be provided in the coming days.