For Now, US Troops Won’t Be Required to Get New COVID-19 Vaccine – By Patricia Kime (Military.com) / Nov 23 2020
As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighs whether to issue an emergency use authorization for a coronavirus vaccine, Defense Department officials say the inoculations will remain voluntary once the FDA gives the OK.
Preparations are underway across the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine once the FDA issues an emergency authorization for use, possibly as early as mid-December.
But as the two departments sort out the details on who should receive the vaccine and where, DoD officials stressed it will not be mandatory for U.S. service members, at least for a while.
According to officials, the vaccine will remain voluntary as long as it is authorized under emergency conditions and doesn’t have official approval from the FDA.
