Biden orders Pentagon to consider mandatory COVID-19 vaccination

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that all federal workers not vaccinated against COVID-19 will be subject to masking, social distancing and mandatory testing. He also called on the Pentagon to look into adding the vaccine to the list of required inoculations for service members.

Biden has stayed largely mum on the topic of mandatory troop vaccinations since he took office in January. The Defense Department has faced endless questions as to why the COVID-19 shot has been voluntary, despite a litany of other required vaccines.

In short, because of the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization, Pentagon leadership has thought better of forcing it, though Biden’s order could supersede that policy.

As the delta variant sends the country back into mask mandates and indoor gathering restrictions, stronger vaccine rules are now on the table.

“Right now, too many people are dying or watching someone they love die and say if ‘I’d just got the vaccine,’” Biden said Thursday. “This is an American tragedy. People are dying who don’t have to die.”