On Apr. 21, 2026, the annual influenza vaccines are no longer mandatory, said Pete Hegseth in a video posted on social media. “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 secretary said. “Our new policy is simple: If you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it; you should. But we will not force you.”

The secretary signed a memorandum that provides updated guidance that states, effective immediately, the annual influenza vaccine is voluntary for all active and reserve component service members and War Department civilian personnel. The new mandate follows similar department efforts regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

Between Aug. 24, 2021, and Jan. 10, 2023, the department required service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Over 8,000 service members were involuntarily discharged from the military for refusing the vaccine. Hegseth said that won’t happen again.

Editor Note: The U.S. Military has been down this path before. However, the average U.S. citizen of 40 years of age, must look at least to their great-great-grand-parents to learn about the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918. That pandemic killed, not just very young and the old, but those in the prime of their lives. One could awake a healthy 25 year-old in the morning, and be a victim of the ‘new’ influenza in the afternoon.

On Apr. 4, 1918, the first mention of influenza appeared in a weekly public health report. The report informed officials of 18 severe cases and three deaths in Haskell, Kansas. More than 100 soldiers at Camp Funston in Fort Riley, Kansas become ill with flu. Within a week the number of flu cases quintupled.

It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States.

The recent COVID-19 Pandemic is the worst global health crisis since the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1920. Unfortunately, the average memory today is very short, and history does repeat itself. We may witness yet another more devastating Pandemic.