Greater than 220 troops at San Antonio’s Lackland AFB have contracted influenza, and lawmakers on either side of the aisle are assigning blame for the outbreak to Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The upsurge in flu circumstances on the Alamo Metropolis website — the nation’s largest navy base by inhabitants at 67,000 service members — comes two months after Hegseth declared that annual influenza vaccines would not be necessary for navy personnel.
“After Secretary Hegseth scrapped the navy’s flu vaccine mandate, it was solely a matter of time earlier than an outbreak occurred,” Congressman Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, tweeted Friday. “It was a reckless choice that put troops in hurt’s manner and undermined our navy readiness.”
Castro added that Air Pressure personnel knowledgeable his workplace that the variety of circumstances had climbed to 222, or 62 greater than had been reported earlier within the week.
The outbreak swept by a batch of recent recruits within the thirty seventh Coaching Wing. A kind of recruits, recognized as Keon McDaniel, died final Tuesday at Brooke Military Medical Middle after experiencing a “medical emergency,” although it’s unclear whether or not the emergency was flu-related, the San Antonio Categorical-Information experiences.
“A complete medical evaluate is being performed to find out the information,” an Air Pressure spokesperson advised the each day.
Hegseth introduced the choice to repeal the flu-shot mandate in an April 21 video posted to X.
“The Struggle Division is as soon as once more restoring freedom to our Joint Pressure,” Hegseth said within the video’s caption. “We’re discarding the necessary flu vaccine requirement, efficient instantly.”
Within the clip, Hegseth argued the choice gave troops “medical autonomy” and “freedom to precise their non secular convictions.” He additionally spoke of “absurd, overreaching mandates that solely weaken our warfighting capabilities.”
“Our women and men in uniform have been pressured to decide on between their conscience and their nation, even when these selections posed no menace to our navy readiness,” a Pentagon spokesperson advised The Hill.
Nonetheless, Senate Armed Companies Committee Chair Roger Wicker, a Missouri Republican, stated ending the vaccine requirement was “a mistake,” The Hill experiences.
“Once I was on lively obligation and a reservist, I dutifully took my flu shot yearly. And as an entire, it made for a more healthy [armed forces],” Wicker advised reporters within the press pool.
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