The Biden administration is preparing to require all members of the United States military to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the US races to inoculate its population against a new wave of more infectious coronavirus variants and hospitalisations soar, Trend reports citing Al Jazeera.
President Joe Biden last month ordered the US Defense Department to develop a plan to make vaccines mandatory for all troops and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was expected to announce the requirement as soon as Friday.
Biden has already directed that all federal workers be vaccinated or face frequent testing and travel restrictions. Until now, the Biden administration has relied on encouraging troops to get vaccinated rather than mandating the shots.
“Today, about 400 people will die because of the Delta variant in this county,” Biden said at the White House on Friday.
“It’s a tragedy because virtually all of these deaths were preventable if people had gotten vaccinated,” Biden said.
According to the Pentagon, more than 1 million service members are fully vaccinated, and more than 237,000 have gotten at least one shot. There are roughly two million active duty, Guard and Reserve troops.