Defense secretary to mandate COVID vaccine for US military

[Cow Poke]

Defense secretary to mandate COVID vaccine for US military by Sept. 15

My brother, a Marine Corps Chaplain at Camp Lejeune, sent this to me, and said to expect to see a huge exodus from the military.

The Pentagon is requiring members of the U.S. military to get vaccinated against coronavirus.

All military troops will have until September 15 to get vaccinated, according to a memo sent by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to all Department of Defense employees. It could be even sooner depending on developments regarding vaccine approval or the spread of COVID-19.

[rogue06]

There have been rumblings about this for awhile.

[Cow Poke]

There have been rumblings about this for awhile.

Which has caused many enlisted to hold off on "re-upping" until they saw where this was going.

[seanD]

"No, I don’t think it should be mandatory. I wouldn’t demand it to be mandatory" -- Joe Biden.

[Cow Poke]

"No, I don’t think it should be mandatory. I wouldn’t demand it to be mandatory" -- Joe Biden.

Maybe that was "predecisional", and he's "circling back".

[CivilDiscourse]

I ended up getting anthrax vaccines and smallpox vaccines in the early 2000's. It is what it is.

[rogue06]

I ended up getting anthrax vaccines and smallpox vaccines in the early 2000's. It is what it is.

Yup. The military has been requiring soldiers, including going back to when most didn't enlist, to get various vaccines and shots.

[CivilDiscourse]

Yup. The military has been requiring soldiers, including going back to when most didn't enlist, to get various vaccines and shots.

Yup. This, honestly is a nothing burger. It's a disease that impacts readiness, can impact military members in large numbers, and we have a vaccine for it. I'm surprised it didn't come down sooner.

The military doesn't play games with this sort of thing. Trust me, I remember alot of people fighting the anthrax vaccine. It didn't end well.

[seanD]

I ended up getting anthrax vaccines and smallpox vaccines in the early 2000's. It is what it is.

That's the excuse the covid cult uses quite often. The difference would be new and different precedents here -- experimental jab, and viruses that have caused the entire world to shut down over.

[CivilDiscourse]

That's the excuse the covid cult uses quite often. The difference would be new and different precedents here -- experimental jab, and viruses that have caused the entire world to shut down over.

They do. But, the military order makes sense. Don't get me wrong, the anthrax program was FUBAR, but thats military life.

it would actually be a bigger deal if the military didn't make it mandatory

[seanD]

They do. But, the military order makes sense. Don't get me wrong, the anthrax program was FUBAR, but thats military life.

it would actually be a bigger deal if the military didn't make it mandatory

Only it's not just mandatory for military. This includes government employees, which, interestingly enough, was first mandated before the military. The reason I pointed out the difference in precedent to past vaccines issuance is the pattern seems clear -- from government employees and military to eventual general populace, and it's still an experimental jab to boot.

[Sparko]

Now that the FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine, Biden is hinting at making it mandatory. For civilians. For now he is "urging" employers to mandate it for their employees. It appears the go-to move for this administration is to farm out their totalitarianism to corporations so they can keep their hands clean.
Shades of Robocop, Batman.

I think that would backfire though.

[Cow Poke]

Yes, SecDef just indicated they will go through with their mandatory vaccinations of US military.

[Terraceth]

Now that the FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine, Biden is hinting at making it mandatory. For civilians. For now he is "urging" employers to mandate it for their employees. It appears the go-to move for this administration is to farm out their totalitarianism to corporations so they can keep their hands clean.
Shades of Robocop, Batman.

I think that would backfire though.

Does the federal government even have authority to require everyone to get vaccinated? That would seem to be something that individual states would have to do. Not counting vaccine mandates specific for federal employees, the past vaccine mandates in the US I'm aware of were done by states or counties/cities, not the federal government.

[Sparko]

Does the federal government even have authority to require everyone to get vaccinated? That would seem to be something that individual states would have to do. Not counting vaccine mandates specific for federal employees, the past vaccine mandates in the US I'm aware of were done by states or counties/cities, not the federal government.

The federal government could just compel the states to make vaccine mandates by withholding funds. But as I said, the go-to strategy of Biden's admin seems to be to co-opt private businesses to do their dirty work. Just like they got Facebook to do their censoring, they are trying to get employers to mandate vaccinations for all employees. You don't get the shot you lose your job. Unless you have some valid reason for an exception. Many colleges, hospitals and businesses are already doing that and that is legal.