Pentagon mandates US military service members receive Covid vaccine immediately

The Pentagon is mandating that US military service members get fully vaccinated against Covid-19 immediately, after the Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine this week.

"After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin wrote in a memo released Wednesday.

He added, "To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force."

The Pentagon previously said that Austin would likely take this step once one of the Covid-19 vaccines received full authorization from the FDA. On Monday, the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which is the only Covid-19 vaccine thus far that has received full authorization by the FDA.