Pentagon: FDA Vaccine Approval Opens Way for Mandatory Military Vaccinations

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine paves the way for the Defense Department to require all military personnel to be vaccinated against the coronavirus strain, officials say.

Because the three available anti-COVID vaccines were only approved for human application by the FDA under an emergency use authorization (EUA), no one — including members of the military — could be compelled to get vaccinated. More than 73% of active duty personnel had received at least one shot of the vaccines by mid-August. However, thousands more service men and women declined to roll up their sleeves for inoculation.

“Now that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved, the department is prepared to issue updated guidance requiring all service members to be vaccinated,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby told reporters Aug. 23. He said a timeline for completing vaccination of the total force would be provided in coming days.

“We’re going to move forward, making that vaccine mandatory,” Kirby said. “We’re preparing guidance to the force right now. In other words, how we want to see it get done. We’re working through that right now.”

Kirby noted Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Aug. 9 that with the increasing spread of more lethal COVID variants, he intended to mandate vaccination as soon as the FDA licensed one of the three available anti-COVID vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. If none received FDA licensure by mid-September, Austin said he would seek a waiver from President Joe Biden to make vaccination mandatory for the military, which Biden indicated he would grant.

In announcing FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age and older, acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said, “the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards of safety and effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product.”

For service members with religious objections to receiving the vaccine, exemptions are governed by the individual military services’ regulations, Kirby said Aug. 10, adding there are provisions for medical exemptions to mandatory vaccination, including pre-existing medical conditions.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19-related deaths among uniformed personnel has climbed to 34 as of Aug. 18, including the first death in the Marine Corps.

Sgt. Edmar J. Ismael died on Aug. 14 in Seattle due to complications related to COVID-19. Ismael, 27, a native of Alaska, was an electrician assigned to Support Platoon, Engineer Support Company, 8th Engineer Support Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force, according to a Marine Corps statement.

Across the uniformed services there has been a total of 222,138 cases of COVID-19, resulting in 1,998 service members requiring hospitalization while 211,034 have recovered.