Pentagon restores mandatory flu shots for all recruits as boot camp outbreak sickens nearly 300

Historical photo: Spanish flu at Naval Training Station San Francisco, California – photo taken ca. 1918. Crowded sleeping area extemporized on the Drill Hall floor of the Main Barracks, during World War I. Note bunks arranged in columns, with alternating headings. Signs on the wall at left forbid spitting on the floor to prevent the spread of disease. Photo credit: Unknown author / U.S. Naval Historical Center via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. Article by  Konstantin Toropin and Mike Stobbe. AP News – June 24, 2026.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Wednesday that boot camps for all the military services are once again requiring the flu vaccination for all recruits after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the shot optional for the military at the end of April. The development, confirmed to The Associated Press by a Pentagon official, comes amid a growing, weekslong, flu outbreak at the U.S. Air Force’s boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base that has sickened nearly 300 people. However, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not cleared for public release, maintained that the permission to mandate the vaccinations was unrelated to the outbreak. […]

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