As of June 22, the Air Force Times reported over 200 members of the United States Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, had fallen ill after MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense, former Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth, had eliminated the mandatory flu vaccine requirement for service members only two months prior.
The New York Times reported Keon McDaniel, a USAF recruit in his sixth week of basic training, died after falling ill, although they were unable to confirm his condition was directly tied to the outbreak of influenza on base.
Hegseth claimed his elimination of vaccine mandates was a way to "restore freedom," but the move is now being cited as another example of Hegseth's dangerous incompetence instead.
Hegseth had announced his new policy on April 21.
During his video announcement, the former Fox News host attacked former Democratic President Joe Biden then called his revocation an effort to encourage medical autonomy in the military and a “common sense approach” meant to “restore freedom.”
Now Hegseth's words and actions are once again coming back to bite him.
Even the moderate politics subReddit had a harsh assessment for Hegseth.
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The Pentagon has reinstated the mandatory flu vaccination for new recruits—the population most vulnerable to widespread outbreaks.
According to an October 2025 Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division report that Hegseth seemingly ignored, the mandatory flu vaccination helped protect older service members who often suffer more severely from influenza and assisted in protecting the overall health of the military, especially among new recruits who have the highest rates of flu infections each year.
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